In a landmark ruling, Justice Abubakar Mahmud Talba of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division has sentenced two Chinese nationals, Meng Wei Kun and Mr. Xu Kuai, to six years imprisonment for offences of Conspiracy, Money Laundering and attempted Bribery.
The Sokoto Zonal Command of the EFCC had brought charges against the accused persons for attempting to bribe officials to the tune of N50 Million (Fifty Million Naira).
The judgment comes after the EFCC filed an appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court Sokoto which had acquitted the accused persons on all three counts.
Justice Talba stated that “gone are the days of technicalities in law” and emphasized that going forward, cases must be heard on their merits.
During the unanimous judgment, Justice Talba explained that the EFCC had proven counts one and two of the three count charge beyond reasonable doubt but agreed with the lower Court on count three and struck it out because a similar charge is pending before the High Court of Justice Sokoto State.
The ruling serves as a clear message that Nigeria will not tolerate any form of corruption or bribery attempts from foreign nationals.
