Justice C. O Ogisi of Delta State High Court,
Sapele, on Wednesday February 25, 2015 convicted and sentenced a former Deputy
Comptroller in charge of Ogwashi-Uku Prison in Delta State, DCP Diete Wure
Wisdom and a Senior Inspector of Prison, Ayamede Peter to three years
imprisonment for stealing 27, 200 litres of automotive gas oil stored in
exhibit trucks, left in the custody of the prison.
They were prosecuted on a 4-count charge by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on the strength of evidence
that the duo conspired to sell products in three exhibits trucks: Mack
tanker with registration number XD 605 JJT and Man Diesel Lorries with
registration numbers, XD 789 ENU and XD 620 FGG, filled with AGO.
The petitioner had alleged said that after the sale of the products, the drums
and the tankers were refilled with water on the directives of DCP Diete.
Upon their arraignment on November 1, 2013, the convicts had pleaded not guilty
to all the charges.
One of the counts read, “That you Wisdom Wure Diete and Peter Ayamede while
being a Deputy Comptroller of Prisons in charge of Ogwashi-Uku prison and a
Senior Inspector of Prison respectively on or about April 2012 at Ogwashi-Uku
Judicial Division did steal 27,200 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) being the
content of the 134 (One Hundred and Thirty Four) drums of 200 litres each
loaded in a truck with registration number: XN 789 ENU, valued at about
N4, 02,000.00 property of the Federal Republic of Nigeria kept for safe keeping
with the Nigerian Prison Service Ogwashi-Uku which you were in charge and
thereby committed an offence contrary to section 390 and punishable under Section
390 (5)(8)(b) & (9) of the Criminal Code Law CAP C21 Laws of Delta State of
Nigeria 2006”.