A
Nigerian court on Friday jailed 14 foreign sailors from Russia, Ukraine,
Philippine and Japan between two and five years for unlawful dealing in
petroleum products in the country.
The federal high court in Lagos found the
suspects guilty of illegally transporting 1,738 tonnes of crude oil and some
4,500 tonnes of petrol, also called gasoline, in their vessel MT Anukpet
Emerald.
Judge Ibrahim Buba sentenced 11 of the 14 foreigners to two years’
jail or alternatively pay a fine of two million naira (10,000 dollars) each.
The remaining three, all Russians were given five years each in absentia
without an option of fine for jumping bail. The court also ordered that the
vessel and the seized petroleum products be forfeited to the Nigerian
government.
The Nigerian navy arrested the sailors and the vessel in February
2015 and handed the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
for prosecution.
It was not immediately clear if the products onboard the
vessel were to be taken out of Nigeria and if so, to which country they were
headed. Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer loses billions of dollars each
year from the theft of crude from sabotaged pipelines and illegal refining of
oil products.
The oil is sold on the black market, depriving the continent’s
most populous state of an estimated $6 billion a year in lost revenue.
Convictions for oil smuggling are common but in most cases the offenders get
away with a fine.
Vanguard Newspaper
A Nigerian court on
Friday jailed 14 foreign sailors from Russia, Ukraine, Philippine and
Japan between two and five years for unlawful dealing in petroleum
products in the country.
The federal high court in Lagos found the suspects guilty of illegally
transporting 1,738 tonnes of crude oil and some 4,500 tonnes of petrol,
also called gasoline, in their vessel MT Anukpet Emerald.
Judge Ibrahim Buba sentenced 11 of the 14 foreigners to two years’ jail
or alternatively pay a fine of two million naira (10,000 dollars) each.
The remaining three — all Russians — were given five years each in
absentia without an option of fine for jumping bail.
The court also ordered that the vessel and the seized petroleum products
be forfeited to the Nigerian government.
The Nigerian navy arrested the sailors and the vessel in February 2015
and handed the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) for prosecution.
It was not immediately clear if the products onboard the vessel were to
be taken out of Nigeria and if so, to which country they were headed.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer loses billions of dollars each
year from the theft of crude from sabotaged pipelines and illegal
refining of oil products.
The oil is sold on the black market, depriving the continent’s most
populous state of an estimated $6 billion a year in lost revenue.
Convictions for oil smuggling are common but in most cases the offenders
get away with a fine.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/nigeria-jails-14-foreigners-oil-smuggling/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/nigeria-jails-14-foreigners-oil-smuggling/
A Nigerian court on
Friday jailed 14 foreign sailors from Russia, Ukraine, Philippine and
Japan between two and five years for unlawful dealing in petroleum
products in the country.
The federal high court in Lagos found the suspects guilty of illegally
transporting 1,738 tonnes of crude oil and some 4,500 tonnes of petrol,
also called gasoline, in their vessel MT Anukpet Emerald.
Judge Ibrahim Buba sentenced 11 of the 14 foreigners to two years’ jail
or alternatively pay a fine of two million naira (10,000 dollars) each.
The remaining three — all Russians — were given five years each in
absentia without an option of fine for jumping bail.
The court also ordered that the vessel and the seized petroleum products
be forfeited to the Nigerian government.
The Nigerian navy arrested the sailors and the vessel in February 2015
and handed the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) for prosecution.
It was not immediately clear if the products onboard the vessel were to
be taken out of Nigeria and if so, to which country they were headed.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer loses billions of dollars each
year from the theft of crude from sabotaged pipelines and illegal
refining of oil products.
The oil is sold on the black market, depriving the continent’s most
populous state of an estimated $6 billion a year in lost revenue.
Convictions for oil smuggling are common but in most cases the offenders
get away with a fine.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/nigeria-jails-14-foreigners-oil-smuggling/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/nigeria-jails-14-foreigners-oil-smuggling/
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