By AfrikTimes | Ilorin
Two men and a mining company have been convicted by the Federal High Court in Ilorin over illegal solid mineral operations in Kwara State, in a case brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC announced the outcome in a statement posted to its official Facebook page, saying its Ilorin Zonal Directorate had successfully prosecuted the case. Standing trial before Justice Abimbola Awogboro were Samuel Sunday and Saheed Lawal Akanji, alongside Akanji’s company, Saaskrona Nigeria Limited, all facing charges of processing and dealing in solid minerals without the licences required under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007.
How the arrests came about
According to the commission, the case began with intelligence suggesting that individuals in parts of Kwara State were mining and trading minerals without proper authorisation. Acting on that information, EFCC operatives carried out surveillance that led to arrests at two separate sites in Eiyenkorin, Ilorin, Sunday at a factory near Deeper Life Camp in the Olorunda area, and Akanji at a factory opposite Ojaja University along Passa Road.
Investigators say the pair were found dealing in and processing a range of minerals, including smithsonite, calcite, anhydrite, tennantite, and quartz, all without the licences required by law.
Guilty pleas, swift sentencing
Both defendants pleaded guilty when arraigned. EFCC counsel Rashidat Alao then presented the facts of the case along with documentary evidence, including the recovered minerals, which the court admitted.
Justice Awogboro sentenced Sunday to 12 months in prison, with an option to instead pay a ₦2 million fine, and ordered that 140 tonnes of mineral ore seized from his site be forfeited to the Federal Government. Akanji received the same 12-month term with a ₦1 million fine option, while his company, Saaskrona Nigeria Limited, was separately fined ₦1 million. Ninety tonnes of minerals recovered from the company’s site were likewise ordered forfeited to the government.
