A Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced a 50-year-old truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, to two years’ imprisonment for unlawful possession of 25 tonnes of lithium-bearing minerals valued at about N2.4 million, with an option of a N5 million fine.

Delivering judgment, Justice Abimbola Awogboro also ordered the forfeiture of the truck used in transporting the minerals, alongside the confiscation of the seized materials to the Federal Government.

The conviction followed prosecution by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which said the case was part of its ongoing crackdown on illegal mining activities in Kwara State.

According to the EFCC, Bawa was arrested on September 9, 2022, at Share along the Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area while conveying suspected illegally mined minerals in a DAF truck with registration number KEY 777ZF.

The agency said the minerals were later confirmed through laboratory analysis by the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency to be lepidolite, a lithium-bearing mineral.

It added that the truck driver was allegedly transporting the minerals on behalf of a Chinese national, Gang Deng, who had earlier been prosecuted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in October 2022 for a related offence.

Bawa was arraigned on November 1, 2022, on a one-count charge bordering on unlawful possession of minerals without appropriate licence, contrary to the Miscellaneous Offences Act.

He pleaded not guilty, leading to a full trial during which the prosecution called two witnesses, including an officer of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency and the investigating officer.

The defence also called two witnesses, including the defendant.

In his ruling, Justice Awogboro held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, convicted the defendant, and imposed the sentence.

The court further granted the EFCC’s request for the forfeiture of the truck and the 25 tonnes of lithium minerals to the Federal Government.