From Taiye Joseph, Ilorin
A Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced a 50-year-old truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, to two years imprisonment for unlawful possession of lithium-bearing minerals valued at N2.4 million, in a case linked to illegal mining activities in Kwara State.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro, delivered the judgment after finding Bawa guilty of a one-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ilorin Zonal Directorate, following his arrest while transporting 25 tons of suspected illegally mined minerals.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the truck used in conveying the minerals and the seized materials to the Federal Government.
Bawa, who hails from Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, was arrested on September 9, 2022, at Share along Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State. Operatives of the EFCC had intercepted him while he was allegedly conveying the minerals in a DAF truck with registration number KEY 777ZF.
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He was later arraigned on November 1, 2022, on a charge bordering on possession of minerals without lawful authority. The prosecution told the court that the consignment was linked to illegal mining operations involving a Chinese national, Gang Deng, who had earlier been convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment by the same court in October 2022.
The charge stated that Bawa “without lawful authority came into possession of minerals, to wit: 25 tons of minerals worth N2,498,000 conveyed in a DAF truck,” contrary to Section 1(8)(b)(i) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1984.
Although Bawa pleaded not guilty, the prosecution called two witnesses, including a Chief Remote Sensing Officer of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Ifarinde Odeyemi, and the investigating officer. The defence also called two witnesses, including the defendant himself.
Odeyemi told the court that laboratory analysis confirmed the seized substance as lepidolite, a lithium-bearing mineral.
In urging the court to convict, prosecuting counsel Innocent Mbachie, argued that the EFCC had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and asked for the forfeiture of the truck and minerals.
Delivering judgment, Justice Awogboro. held that the prosecution had successfully established its case. The judge said, “The defendant is hereby found guilty as charged,” and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of N5 million fine.
The court further ordered that both the truck and the recovered minerals be forfeited to the Federal Government, reinforcing ongoing efforts by anti-graft agencies to curb illegal mining and mineral trafficking in the country.
