Justice
Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Friday convicted 14
foreigners for illegal oil transactions in Nigeria over illegal bunkering of 1,738.087
metric tonnes of petroleum product in Nigeria without license, as alleged by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Buba sentenced 11 of the 14 convicted
foreigners, who were identified as citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Philippine and
Japan, to two years imprisonment with an option to a pay a fine of N2 million
each.
According
to the ruling, the sentence counts from March 2015, when they were apprehended
by the Nigerian Navy and handed over to the EFCC.
The
three other convicts, who are Russian nationals, were sentenced to five years
imprisonment without an option of fine for jumping bail and absconding.
However,
they were convicted and sentenced them in absentia and issued a warrant for
their arrest, and accordingly, will have their jail term commenced on the day
of arrest.
Buba
also ordered the forfeiture of the petroleum products and MT Anukt Emerald, the
vessel into which they were loaded, to the Federal Government adding that
Monjasa DMCC and Glencore Energy UK Ltd., two companies convicted alongside the
foreigners, will pay N5 million fine on each of the five counts against them.
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