Justice U.N Agomoh of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt on April 14, 2014 convicted and sentenced one Gideon Nuka Vopna to two years imprisonment without an option of fine. Gideon pleaded guilty to two-count charge bordering on illegal dealing in petroleum products preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. He bagged a two-year jail term on each count. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The convict was intercepted sometime in January 2010, by men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) at Kpopie Junction in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State with 33,000 litres of petroleum product suspected to be crude oil in a truck with registration number XF 653 EKY (Lagos) and was handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.
One of the charges that sent him to prison reads, “that you Gideon Nuka Vopna on or about the 20th day of January 2010 at Kpopie junction in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did conspire with others now at large to commit felony to wit: dealing in petroleum product and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 3(6) and punishable under section 1(17) both of the Miscellaneous Offences Act CAP M17 of the Revised Edition (Law of the Federation of Nigeria) Act 2007”.
The second charge reads, “that you Gideon Nuka Vopna on or about the 20th day of January 2010 at Kpopie junction in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court without appropriate licence deal in petroleum product to wit: 33,000 litres of crude oil conveyed in a Mack Truck with Reg. No. XF 653 EKY (Lagos) for sale and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(17) (a) and punishable under section 1(17) both of the Miscellaneous Offences Act CAP M17 of the Revised Edition (Law of the Federation of Nigeria) Act 2007”.
Justice Agomoh ordered that the truck and its content be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Media & Publicity
14th April, 2014
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