The Federal Government has arraigned 12 suspected oil thieves in connection with the intercepted Cameroon-bound vessel laden with 150 metric tonnes of stolen crude oil.
The vessel, MT TURA II, was intercepted on July 7 on Escravos Sea in Delta State with 11 Nigerians and one Ghanaian onboard.
The military, on July 11, set the vessel ablaze at a creek close to Bennett Island in the Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.
The Federal Government arraigned the 12 suspected oil thieves before the Federal High Court in Asaba.
The charge sheet marked FHC/ASB/93C/23 had as defendants Mr Cobbina Paul & ORS.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty when the two counts contained in the charge sheet were read to them before Justice F.A. Olubanjo.
The prosecuting counsel for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, O. F Okai, prayed the court to remand the defendants in the custodial facility of the Nigerian Correctional Service while a date was fixed for the commencement of trial.
The defence counsel, Paul Ejiga, made an oral bail application, saying he was informed about the arraignment late.
“We just came in and we were informed that the matter is coming up for trial,” he said.
In a ruling, however, Justice Olubanjo declined the oral bail application.
“Please file a formal application for bail. I read the file and I do not think an oral application will suffice even if the prosecution is not opposing.
“Defendants shall be remanded at the Nigeria correctional service, Ogwashi-Uku. In the event that the defendants file bail applications, it is unlikely that this court will be able to attend to them as vacation commences on July 24, 2023.
“The DCR is, therefore, directed to forward the case file to the vacation court at Port Harcourt if bail applications are filed during the court’s long vacation,” the judge ruled.
She subsequently adjourned the case till October 26 for trial.
Meanwhile, an anti-corruption advocacy group, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, has said the Federal Government can save over $200bn yearly if leakages in oil revenues were blocked.
HEDA made a submission at the end of a weeklong international conference on anti-corruption held in Abuja.
“Funds recovered through stringent anti-corruption measures in the oil and gas sector will help Nigeria regain her floundering economic fortunes,” the group said at the conference with the theme, “Nigeria and the Fight Against Corruption: Reviewing the Buhari Regime and Setting Agenda for the Tinubu Administration.”
“Nigeria is at a critical moment. People are passing through very difficult times. With a debt profile of N77tn, and an extremely poor debt service ratio, the country is in a quagmire. The surest way to recovery is to decisively fight corruption.
“Recovery of stolen funds and an end to graft in the oil sector will see Nigeria witness an upsurge in revenue to meet the needs of Nigerians who are at the end of the stick,” HEDA said in one of its recommendations to the new government.
