One defendant, Isaac Bassey, told judge SK Matepo of the Samuel Ilori Courthouse in Ogbà, Lagos state, that he is not a party to the contract that led to the disappearance of 33,000 liters of kerosene in the state.
Bassey, along with Peter, are on trial for allegedly stealing 33,000 liters of kerosene worth N6m and ditching the delivery truck.
The defendant, who was called as a witness by defense lawyer UE Udo, told the court that he was not a party to the matter.
He said a Ndubuisi contacted him asking for a delivery truck that could carry 33,000 liters of kerosene, but he was unable to provide it.
He said: “He sent a certain Morris to meet me. That day, he was sitting with Mr. Peter (co-defendant). I told Morris that he didn’t have what Ndubuisi was asking for. Mr Peter said that he had a 33,000 liter truck”.
Bassey said his involvement ended when Mr Peter called the truck’s owner, who handed the truck over to Ndubuisi, adding that Ndubuisi and his escorts loaded kerosene into the container and drove off.
He said Ndubuisi called him two days later to complain that the driver could not be reached.
However, he noted that he received the same complaint the following Monday.
The witness said that the unionists and the police were informed when the truck and the 33,000 liters of kerosene disappeared.
Bassey said police sent him and Peter over on Monday and asked Ndubuisi to come over on Tuesday, but he didn’t show up until Friday.
“The owner of the kerosene told the police to lock up Ndubuisi because he was the one who diverted the product. The DPO said he was going to lock him up that Friday because he hadn’t shown up since Monday either.
“But Ndubuisi called the SARS agents. They came that Friday night and took us to their base in Ikeja, where Peter and I were remanded for two weeks,” Bassey added.
He said it was not part of the contract, adding that Ndubuisi falsified the loading and delivery documents.