Kemisola Oye
A Lagos Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a contract staff of Total Plc and Jet fueller, Idris Bakare to four years imprisonment for stealing.
The trial judge, Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe found Mr Bakare guilty as charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), convicted and sentenced him.
EFCC had arraigned Mr Bakare on a four-count charge of offences bordering on stealing and dishonestly converted to his use, the total sum of Thirty-Five Million, Six Hundred and Srventy-Two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Five Naira (N35,672,845.00) only.
The anti-graft commission stated that Bakare, together with Dauda Adegboyega and a company, Zuraai Gold Ventures, allegedly converted to their use the said sum which belonged to British Airways between 23 October and 31 December 2019 in Lagos.
Their offences are contrary to the provision of Section 280(2) and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State 2015.
The defendant pleaded guilty to the count charges.
Following his guilty plea, the EFCC counsel, Ms Zainab Atiku, called an EFCC investigative officer for a review of the facts.
The EFCC investigative officer, Mojibola Adekunbi, told the court that the Commission received a petition from British Airways on 4 October 2022 against Total Nigeria Plc and Asharam Energy.
The petition alleged that Total Plc, British Airways Engineer, and Sahara Energy conspired to invoice Aircraft Jet A1 fuel above what has been uploaded onto the British Airways aircraft with the total sum of N363, 780,248.53k which has been ongoing since 2018.
EFCC operative told the court that the investigation revealed that the convict was a contract staff of Total Plc, who was a fueller that dispenses Jet A1 fuel via bowser vehicle with hose to the aircraft.
She noted that the convict conspired with others by selling out some amount of Jet A1 fuel meant for British Airways aircraft to one Dauda Sulaiman which was confirmed by the buyer through a series of transactions of money to the convict’s bank account.
“That the convict received the total sum of Forty Million, Six Hundred and Seventy-Eight Thousand Naira (N40, 676,000.00) only from the buyer, Dauda Sulaiman being the proceed of sales of the stolen Jet A1 fuel.”
Atiku, therefore, tendered the petition received from British Airways to the EFCC, statements of the defendant, statement of account of Zenith Bank of the defendant and Four Million Naira (N4,000, 000.00), Access Bank cheque draft to the Commission during investigation as evidence.
The trial judge, Justice Abike-Fadipe admitted them as exhibits P1, P2, and P3 respectively and convicted him as charged.
The court however gave the convict the opportunity to address the court. Mr Bakare pleaded for mercy, promising never to engage in fraud again. He apologized to British Airways, his employer and Total Nigeria Plc.
Also, the convict counsel, Olufemi Bisuga prayed the court to temper justice with mercy. He said he apologised to British Airways, his employer through the principal Total Plc. He also apologized to Nigeria and his family as he noted that he has learnt his lesson.
But following his conviction, EFCC counsel prayed the court to impose the provision of Section 297 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of Lagos State as regards restitution to victims of the crime.
Justice Abike-Fadipe sentenced the convict to one year imprisonment on each of the four counts with an option of a fine of N1 million on each count.
The court further ordered that he pay the balance of N36,676,000.00 over three years to commence from July 2024 and the sum of N4 million refunded to be given back to British Airways. Meanwhile, the jail terms are to run concurrently.
Eighteen-Eleven Media