Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced a 50-year-old truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, to two years imprisonment for unlawful possession and transportation of illegally mined solid minerals valued at N2.4 million.
Bawa, a native of Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, was convicted following his prosecution by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over offences related to illegal mining activities.
The court found him guilty after the EFCC established that he was conveying 25 tons of suspected illegally mined minerals without lawful authorisation.
The convict was arrested on September 9, 2022, at Share along Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State by operatives of the anti-graft agency while transporting the minerals estimated to be worth N2.4 million.
Investigations revealed that Bawa was driving a truck used to transport minerals allegedly purchased without a valid licence by a Chinese national, Gang Deng, who had earlier been convicted by the same court.
Gang Deng was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on October 19, 2022, for offences bordering on illegal mining.
The EFCC said the conviction forms part of its sustained efforts to combat illegal mining and economic sabotage across the country.
