Kwara Court Jails Truck Driver, Orders Forfeiture Of 25 Tons Of Lithium Minerals In Ilorin

Ilorin, Kwara State– The Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has convicted a 50-year-old truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, over unlawful possession and transportation of 25 tons of lithium-bearing minerals valued at N2.4 million.

Justice Abimbola Awogboro sentenced Bawa, an indigene of Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, to two years imprisonment with an option of a N5 million fine after finding him guilty of the ,charge filed by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC.

The court also ordered the final forfeiture of the truck used in conveying the minerals, alongside the seized 25 tons of suspected lepidolite (a lithium-bearing mineral), to the Federal Government.

According to the EFCC, Bawa was arrested on September 9, 2022, at Share along Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State while transporting the minerals in a DAF truck with registration number KEY 777ZF and chassis number KLRAD85XCOE603462.

The commission said the minerals were allegedly acquired without the required licence by a Chinese national, Gang Deng, who had earlier been convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment by the same court on October 19, 2022.

Bawa was subsequently arraigned on November 1, 2022, on a one-count charge bordering on unlawful possession of minerals.

The charge stated that Bawa, in September 2022, “without lawful authority, came into possession of minerals, to wit: 25 tons of minerals worth N2,498,000, conveyed in a DAF truck… and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(8)(b)(i) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1984.”

He pleaded not guilty, leading to a full trial.

During proceedings, the prosecution called two witnesses, including Ifarinde Odeyemi, a Chief Remote Sensing Officer with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), and the investigating officer.

Odeyemi told the court that laboratory tests confirmed the seized substance as lepidolite, a mineral associated with lithium deposits.

The defence also called two witnesses, including the defendant.

In his final written address, EFCC counsel Innocent Mbachie urged the court to convict Bawa, arguing that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and further sought forfeiture of both the truck and the minerals.

Delivering judgment, Justice Awogboro held that the prosecution had successfully established the offence and subsequently convicted and sentenced Bawa.

The judge further ordered that the truck and all recovered minerals be forfeited to the Federal Government.