Kogi Court Detains Man for Illegal Possession of 33,000Litres of Crude Oil

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A Lokoja Chief Magistrate Court on Friday remanded a 23-year-old man, Mallam Abubakar Ibrahim in prison custody for illegal possession of 33,000 litres of crude oil suspected to be stolen.

Chief Magistrate Levi Animoku who gave the order in his ruling on arraignment of the accused said the offence alleged against the accused was grievous as it touched on the economy and live-wire of the country.

Animoku said the penalty for the offence was high and so was the propensity for the accused to elope justice if granted bail.

“The presumption of innocence guaranteed the accused notwithstanding, I am not convinced to admit him to bail. Consequently, the accused shall be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe. Meanwhile, the case is adjourned to November 17, for mention”, he declared.

Earlier, the prosecuting counsel, Musa Jubril of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kogi command, fold the court that Ibrahim was arrested by troops of the Nigerian Army.

Jubril said that the troops during “Operation Iron Fence” on Lokoja-Koton-Karfe-Girinya road in Kogi Local Government of Kogi State at about 1:30 am on August 26, arrested the accused with 33,000 litres of crude oil.

He said that the accused, without lawful authority did conspire with one Alhaji Yahaya and one Shehu whose first name is unknown, now at large, to “illegally steal, posses and deal in crude oil of about 33,000 litres.”

The prosecuting counsel therefore charged Ibrahim with Dealing in Petroleum Product Without Lawful Authority contrary to and punishable under section 1 (17)(a) and (b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap. M17 of the Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Jubril opposed admitting the accused to bail as he urged the court to remand him in prison custody in view of the gravity of the offence which carries life imprisonment upon conviction saying, “It is not safe to admit the accused to bail.”

(NAN)


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