Abuja: Seventeen Indians have been arrested
and four arraigned before a Nigerian court for allegedly trying to illegally export four container loads of scrap metals from the African country.
They were attempting to export four container loads of
scrap metals illegally through Africa's largest container
terminal at Apapa Quay in Lagos a fortnight ago, Victor Dimka,
Customs Area Controller for southern Nigeria's Lagos state,
said.
Those arraigned at the federal high court in Lagos on Friday were Messrs Vikas Das, Naresh Gupta, Dharmin Bhatt and Nilesh Mmodi.
Das is the managing director of Everest Metal Nigeria Limited, the company which purportedly owns the consignments
while others are directors of the firm. They were granted bail
on the condition that each of the accused must provide USD
19,000 bond and one surety each in the sum of USD 19,000.
The four containers of scrap metals are valued by the
customs at about USD 465,000.
A customs official said the containers were soaked in mud
to disguise scraps as ordinary dirt.
The case was adjourned to September 12 and 13, 2011. Indian companies are the highest employers of labour in
Nigeria's private sector and regarded to be the second largest
employers after the country's federal government.
More than 20,000 PIOs live in Lagos alone with many
having the country's citizenship.
PTI
First Published: Monday, September 05, 2011, 09:25