The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, arraigned a vessel, MT Ostria, and three persons before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, over allegations of petroleum theft involving over 25 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) belonging to NNPC Retail Limited.
The defendants, Captain Raymundo A. Panaligam, Chief Officer Roneno Villarin, and Mr. Vincent Wayas, were charged alongside the vessel on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing.
The anti-graft agency disclosed this in a statement shared on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
According to the charge, the defendants conspired to steal 25,354,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, offences said to be contrary to Sections 411 and 280 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, and punishable under Section 287 of the same law.
The count charge read, “MT Ostria, Captain Raymundo A. Panaligam, Chief Officer Roneno Villarin and Mr. Vincent Wayas sometime in January 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit felony, to wit: stealing of Thirteen Million, Five Hundred and Fifty Four Thousand (13,354,000) litres of Premium Motor Spirit, property of NNPC Retail Limited.”
All defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them
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Following their plea, prosecuting counsel, Bilikisu Buhari, prayed the court to set a trial date and remand the defendants in a correctional facility.
She prayed the court not to grant them bail, that the applicant was a flight risk, that they had nothing to lose if they jump bail or abscond from trial.
However, the defence team informed the court that bail applications had already been filed and urged that the defendants be allowed to continue under the bail conditions earlier granted by the EFCC.
Justice Dada ruled that the defendants should continue on the existing EFCC bail conditions and subsequently adjourned the case to November 17 and 27, 2025, for the commencement of trial.
