On Thursday, forty-one persons were arraigned before a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan on a two-count charge of allegedly conspiring with one another to commit felony through unlawful mining and concealing 24.96 grammes of gold ore extracted from an illegal mine at Onipanu village, Ilaju, Ibadan, valued at N1,248,000, on January 25, 2024.
For count one, the defendants were alleged to have gone contrary to Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, while for the second count, they were deemed to have committed an offence contrary to Section 8b of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Vol. 9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
The 41 persons arraigned before Justice U.N. Agomoh pleaded guilty to the two-count charge that had the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the complainant.
The presiding judge adjourned the hearing to Monday, March 11th, to allow due time to review the facts against the suspects.
The police prosecuting counsel, Mr. Michael Ojeah, presented witnesses and other exhibits caught with the suspected illegal miners, which included shovels, cutlasses, diggers, and hoes.
Ojeah subsequently informed the court that he was prepared to present the facts of the case since the defendants had pleaded guilty.
Mr. Awosanmi Abiola, who led a team of security operatives that arrested the defendants, tendered the statements of five principal witnesses and the statements of the 41 defendants recorded after the arrest.
Justice Agomoh admitted all the statements tendered and were marked as exhibits 1–46. As the defendants’ counsel, Mr. Suraji Musa, did not object.
Musa prayed the court for a short adjournment for the continuation of the case review, which Justice Agomoh granted and adjourned until March 11 for the continuation of the prosecution’s review of the case.
