Justice Frederick Oho of a Federal Appeal Court in Lagos has upheld the conviction and sentence of nine foreigners for stealing 3,423.097 metric tonnes of crude oil from Nigeria.

The foreigners were earlier convicted by theJustice Ibrahim Buba of theFederal High Court, Lagos to a five-year jail term each with an option of N5 million fine.

Inhis judgment on Monday,Oho agreed with the submissions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo that the appeal lacked merit and subsequently dismissed it.

Other Justices of the Appeal Panel were Justice Hussein Mukhtar and Justice Mohammed Shuaib consentedto Justive Oho's ruling.

The convicts include five Filipinos and four Bangladeshi.

The Nigerian Navy Ship, Beecroft, had in March 2015 intercepted their vessel, MT Asteris, and its crew during a routine patrol in Lagos, while trying to export the stolen product. (TV360 Nigeria)