Federal High Court sitting in Lagos sentenced Seven men yesterday to 84 years in prison for oil theft and illegal oil Bunkering,involving dealing unlawfully with 1,459 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit or petrol.
The convicts, namely: Adedamola Ogungbayi, Olaniran Olabode; Suraju Gasali; Moses Emmanuel; Wilson Bonsi; Okaraodi Uche and Onyeogo Happy are to spend the next 12 years each in prison.
Justice who passed the Judgement also ordered that the Vessel MT Goodness used by the convict and the sum of N66.6m or $975,000 belonging to the convict company Hepa Global Energy Limited with first city Monument Bank be forfieted to the Federal government.
However, the eight accused, Padoun Jacob was discharged and Acquitted in his judgement, Justice Abang said
Jacob as a desperate job seeker, who became a victim of circumstances, noted that the stolen petroleum product had been loaded before Jacob was employed by Hepa Global Energy Limited on February 7, 2014.
“The guilty should not escape punishment but the innocent should not be punished,” the Justice Abang held.
“The convicts have no sympathy for the corporate existence of this country. The seed of wrongdoing may be sown in secret but the harvest cannot be concealed. Today is the day of reckoning.
You call it oil bunkering or pipeline vandalism, this menace has reached an alarming proportion in this country; enough is enough
“The convicts are godless and lawless, without any particle of sympathy for this country. They are part of the people that have contributed to the economic woes of this country.
“The convicts planted thorns, they cannot expect to gather flowers; they sowed the wind, and they must gather whirlwind,” the court held.
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