A Federal High Court sitting in Warri has handed down convictions to 10 people found guilty of illegal petroleum dealings in Delta State. The sentences carry prison terms of up to three years, though each conviction comes with a fine option, starting as low as N300,000.
The convictions were secured by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which continues to pursue cases tied to crude oil theft and unlawful petroleum trading across the Niger Delta region.
With oil bunkering and illegal refining still costing Nigeria billions in lost revenue every year, watchers of the Delta courts will be asking whether fines this modest are enough to deter the next round of offenders.
Originally published by Premium Times.