Court jails driver linked to Chinese miner in Kwara

The Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has convicted and sentenced a truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, to two years imprisonment for unlawfully transporting 25 tons of lithium-bearing minerals valued at about N2.4 million. Justice Abimbola Awogboro handed down the sentence after finding the defendant guilty of illegal possession of minerals without lawful authority. The development […]

The Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has convicted and sentenced a truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, to two years imprisonment for unlawfully transporting 25 tons of lithium-bearing minerals valued at about N2.4 million.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro handed down the sentence after finding the defendant guilty of illegal possession of minerals without lawful authority.
The development followed the prosecution of the defendant by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the truck used in conveying the minerals, alongside the entire consignment, to the Federal Government.
Bawa, 50, from Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, was arrested on September 9, 2022, along the Share-Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State while transporting the minerals in a DAF truck.
According to the prosecution, the minerals were suspected to have been illegally mined and transported without the required licence or lawful authority.
The EFCC told the court that the truck driver was linked to minerals allegedly purchased by a Chinese national, Gang Deng, who had earlier been convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment by the same court in 2022.
At the commencement of the trial, Bawa pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge brought against him under the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
The charge accused him of unlawfully possessing 25 tons of minerals valued at N2,498,000 and transporting them in a truck with registration number KEY 777 ZF.
During the trial, the prosecution called witnesses, including a Chief Remote Sensing Officer with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Ifarinde Odeyemi, who informed the court that laboratory analysis confirmed the seized minerals to be lepidolite, a lithium-bearing mineral.
The prosecution counsel, Innocent Mbachie, urged the court to convict the defendant, arguing that the evidence established the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
In his judgment, Justice Awogboro sentenced the convict to two years imprisonment with an option of a N5 million fine.
The judge further directed that the truck used in transporting the minerals be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government as part of efforts to combat illegal mining activities across the country.