Precious Nnedimma, Chukwu Okechukwu and David Nwachukwu, three men, have been arraigned before the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for allegedly being involved in criminal petroleum refining and handling of petroleum products without licence.
The trio, who are standing trial on conspiracy, handling of petroleum products without a licence and handling of adulterated petroleum products, is before the court on suit No. FHC/PH/290/2025.
In their submission at the resumption of the hearing on Tuesday, the counsel for the defence sought for an adjournment of the matter which was subsequently granted by Justice P. I. Ajoku until 14 and 15 December, 2026.
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The adjournment is at the discretion of the court but all we want is that the court should do justice and by God’s grace, justice would be done,” he said.
“With the overwhelming evidence before the court, by God’s grace we’ll have success in this matter.”
The suspects were arrested in August 2025 during an operation carried out by the Inter-Agency Taskforce on Petroleum Products Theft and Sundry Energy Crimes alongside the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL).
According to the Head of investigation for the Task Force’s Special Prosecution Team, CSP Sini Omar John, the suspects were arrested after several days of surveillances and investigations of the illegal activities taking place in Umuebule in the Etche Local Government area of Rivers State.
The suspects were found to be involved in illegal refining of petroleum products in the course of which, through laboratory analysis, several hundred sacks of illegal refining of petroleum were seized along with six trucks and other vehicles.
The case is scheduled for commencement in December.
