Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Justice Abdullahi M. Dan-Ige of the Federal High Court in Minna, Niger State, has convicted and sentenced five individuals to one year imprisonment each for illegal mining activities.
The convicts, Yusuf Amadu, Babila Sani, Ibrahim Umar, Ephraim Jonas Okoro, and Saidu Mohammed, were prosecuted by the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on separate one-count charges bordering on illegal possession of precious stones without a valid licence.
According to the EFCC, the defendants were arrested in November 2024 following credible intelligence that exposed their unlicensed mining operations in Minna Local Government Area and Kateregi Community in Kacha Local Government Area of Niger State.
One of the charges against the defendants read: “That you, Yusuf Amadu, on or about 14th November, 2024 in Kacha, Minna, Niger State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession precious stones without a licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 131(d) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 and punishable under Section 134(b) of the same Act.”
That of Umar reads: “That you, of Ibrahim Umar, male, sometime in November, 2024 in Minna, Niger State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court had in your possession, precious stones without licence and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 131(d) of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 and punishable under Section 134(b) of the same Act.”
All five pleaded guilty to their respective charges. Prosecuting counsel, K.S. Ogunlade, urged the court to convict and sentence them accordingly, while defence counsel pleaded for leniency, noting that the offenders were remorseful.
Justice Dan-Ige convicted the defendants and sentenced each of them to one year imprisonment with an option of a N100,000 fine.
