The Nigerian Court of Appeal has brushed off an appeal filed by 14 foreign nationals contesting their conviction for oil robbery, CAJ News reviews.
Officers from the Nigerian Navy arrested the convicts from Japan, Philippines, Russia and Ukraine and intercepted their vessel, loaded with crude oil expected at 1 738 tonnes in 2015. They all pleaded no longer guilty to the fees charges against them.
The Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced eleven out of the convicted suspects to 2 years imprisonment every, with an alternative of N5 million (R176 150) fine as 3 of the overseas nationals had jumped bail and absconded.
Following the ruling, the accused had approached the appellate court docket to set apart the judgment. However, in a judgment read closing week by way of Justice Garuba Haruna, the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the lower courtroom convicting them.