Court jails oil thieves for 84yrs

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court sitting in
Lagos yesterday convicted seven men to 84 years
imprisonment for illegal and unlawful dealing in 1,459
metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called
petrol. The court sentenced each of the convicts to a jail
term of 12 years each commencing Friday after the Judge
found them guilty of the five count charge preferred
against them.
The convicts are; Adedamola Ogungbayi; Olaniran
Olabode; Suraju Gasali; Moses Emmanuel; Wilson Bonsi;
Okaraodi Uche and Onyeogo Happy. Apart from the jail
term, Justice Abang also ordered the forfeiture of the
vessel, ‘MT Good Success’, used by the convicts in stealing
the said petroleum product, as well as the recovered
petroleum product to the Federal Government.
The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the sums of
N66.6m and $975,000 belonging to the convicts’ company,
Hepa Global Energy Limited, domiciled with the First City
Monument Bank to the Federal Government. To ensure a
compliance to his judgement, Abang ordered the filing of
an affidavit of compliance with the order within 21 days of
the judgement.
The convicts, were arraigned alongside their vessel and
company on August 28, 2014 on five counts alongside one
Padoun Jacob, who was discharged and acquitted by the
court. The judge, in setting Jacob free on all the five
counts, described him as a desperate job seeker, who
became a victim of circumstances.
The judge noted that the stolen petroleum product had
been loaded before Jacob was employed by Hepa Global
Energy Limited on February 7, 2014.