A royal father in Osun State, Oba Taofeeq Olaposi Osunmakinde, the Obawore of Ifetuntun and four others were arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday on charges related to alleged illegal gold mining in Ondo State.
The Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, brought the charges, accusing the defendants of conspiring to engage in unauthorized gold mining at the Ogunlepo mining site in Lege community, Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The five defendants, including Sheu Mustapha, Sabiru Hashim, Danbaba Ibrahim, and Ade Olap Global Resources Limited, were charged under sections of the Miscellaneous Offences Act 2004, specifically section 3(6) and punishable under section 1(8) of the same Act. These sections pertain to the unauthorized importation, exportation, or possession of minerals, which can carry severe penalties, including life imprisonment.
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During the arraignment, all defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. The counsel for the AGF, Toluwalope Alex Ojo, requested a date to open the federal government’s case against the accused and asked the court to require the defendants to deposit their international passports as part of their bail conditions.
Counsel to the defendants, Vincent Ododo, moved consolidated bail applications, arguing that the first defendant, being a well-known traditional ruler, and the non-capital nature of the charges, warranted bail. Justice Emeka Nwite granted bail to the defendants in the sum of N20 million each, with one surety in the like sum.
The sureties must be residents in Abuja with ownership of landed properties and must produce a three-year tax clearance certificate. The defendants were also ordered to deposit their international passports and recent passport photographs with the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Court. Pending the perfection of their bail conditions, the defendants were remanded to Kuje Prison.
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