A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Yaba, Lagos State, has ordered the remand of three “freight agents”, Obinna Nwaokporo, Ayomide Olaiya, and Ejiro Omojevwe, for allegedly defrauding a company, Flem Viotad Nigeria Limited, owned by one Ayoade Mojeed, of N14.4 million.
The defendants, who are facing three-count of conspiracy, stealing, and conversion of funds, were arraigned before Magistrate P.E Nwaka on Friday.
Nwaokporo and others reportedly presented themselves as “freight agents” to provide logistics for clearing and shipping a naturally occurring mineral dust known as mica, often used in makeup foundations, as filler in cement and asphalt, and as insulation material in electric cables to China for processing and were given N1 million as part-payment.
The defendants were said to have sent one Usman Sani with a Mack truck to the company to load 56 metric tons of two 20-ft containers with mica valued at N12 million for shipment to China. The shipment was to be done within three weeks but the driver had absconded with the goods till date.
The prosecutor, Thomas Nurudeen, told the court that the defendants and others still at large conspired to commit the offence. He said they committed the offence between May 19 and 24, 2022, at the Apapa Wharf area of Lagos State.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
The Chief Magistrate, P. E. Nwaka, granted them bail in the sum of N1 million each with two responsible sureties each in like sum.
He adjourned the case till May 3, 2023 for mention.
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