The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has fixed 14 and 15 December for continued hearing in the prosecution of three men accused of dealing in illegally refined petroleum products in Rivers State.
Precious Nnedimma, Chukwu Ajunwa Okechukwu and David Nwachukwu have been standing trial since 2025 on charges of conspiracy, dealing in petroleum products without a licence, and dealing in adulterated products.
The prosecution, filed as Suit No. FHC/PH/290/2025, was listed for hearing last Wednesday before counsel to the defendants applied for an adjournment. Justice Justice Patricia I. Ajoku granted the application and set the new dates.
The prosecuting counsel, Ibrahim Mohammed, told journalists after the sitting that the prosecution was ready to proceed.
”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 defendants were arrested in August 2025 following an operation by the Inter-Agency Taskforce on Petroleum Products Theft and Sundry Energy Crimes, working with surveillance guards from Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), the integrated pipeline infrastructure company responsible for the Eastern corridor of the Trans Niger Pipeline.
CSP Sini Omar John, Head of Investigation with the Task Force’s Special Prosecution Team, said the arrests followed weeks of surveillance and community engagement at a compound in Umuebule, Etche Local Government Area, near Cypa Junction.
”We got intelligence about the alleged activities going on in that premises, so we deployed technology including the use of drones and human capital,” he said.
”Officers observed patterns consistent with cooking activities at the site, and residents interviewed in the area corroborated vehicle movements in and out of the compound during unusual hours.
Acting on a warrant issued by the court, the joint team searched the premises and recovered what CSP John described as hundreds of sacks laden with petroleum products. Six trucks and other vehicles were impounded at the scene. Laboratory testing subsequently confirmed the recovered material as illegally refined petroleum.
The prosecution is expected to open its case when proceedings resume in December.
