Three persons was Wednesday arraigned by Ebonyi Police command for allegedly involving in rice smuggling into the state.
The suspects Okemiri Sunday, 36; Azubuike Uzom, 38; Igwe Chinedu, 26; and Ejike Agbara, 31, were alleged to have in deviance to the ban, illegally imported over 268 bags of foreign rice into Ebonyi state.
The trio were said to have committed the offense Tuesday, January 21, 2020, at Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway, in the Abakaliki local government area of the state.
They were further said to have committed the crime, around 8pm Tuesday and were arrested by men of the Nigerian Police, who were on routine security patrol along the expressway, same night.
Blueprint gathered that the suspects were arraigned before the Magistrate’s Court on two counts bothering on conspiracy and disobedience to unlawful order.
Meanwhile, the Police prosecutor, Mbam Chinedu, told the court, that the offenses were punishable under sections 516A (a) and 203 of the Criminal Code Cap. 33, Vol. 1, Laws of Ebonyi state of Nigeria, 2007.
The charge read, “That you Okemiri Sunday ‘m’, Azubuike Uzom ‘m’ , Igwe Chinedu ‘m’ and Ejike Agbara ‘m’, on the 21st day of January, 2020, along Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway, in the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did conspire among yourselves to commit misdemeanor to wit; disobedience to unlawful order issued by constituted authority and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 516A (a) of the Criminal Code Cap. 33, Vol. 1, Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009.
“That you Okemiri Sunday ‘m’, Azubuike Uzom ‘m’, Igwe Chinedu ‘m’ and Ejike Agbara ‘m’, on the same date, place and aforementioned magisterial district and without lawful excuse, disobeyed the lawful order issued by the executive president and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by importing 268 bags of foreign rice into Nigeria and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 203 of the Criminal Code Cap. 33, Vol. 1, Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009.”
