federal high court in lagos convicts seven men to 84 years imprisonment

Oil Thieves Jailed For 84 Year
Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Lagos
yesterday convicted seven men to 84 years imprisonment for
illegal and unlawful dealing in 1,459 metric tonnes of petrol. The
court sentenced each of the convicts to a jail term of 12 years
each starting Friday after they were all found 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 which belonged to the convicts’ company, Hepa Global
Energy Limited, domiciled with the First City Monument Bank to
the Federal Government.
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.