Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Lagos State has convicted and sentenced a 52-year-old drug trafficker, Jude Onah, to one and half years imprisonment for trafficking in 7.9 Kilograms of cannabis sativa, also known as marijuana.
The convict was handed the jail term after he pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful importation, trafficking and possession of 7.9 Kilogrames of the prohibited weed.
According to the NDLEA, the convict was arrested in July 2024 at the agency’s checkpoint in Badagry, Lagos State.
Earlier, when the convict was arraigned, the NDLEA’s prosecution counsel, Aondofa Korijor, told the court that the convict attempted to bring in the prohibited weed into Nigeria from a neighbouring country, in a Sienna.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 11(a); 11(b) and 19 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
After the charge marked FHC/L/607c/24 was read to the convict, he pleaded guilty.
Based on his guilty plea, the NDLEA prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence him in accordance with the sections of the NDLEA Act he was charged with.
But his lawyer, Oke Ojakovo, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing his client, due to some aggravating factors, which included being a first-time offender and not wasting the time of the court in pleading guilty to the charges.
Ojakovo also pleaded with the court to consider a fine option in lieu of the custodian sentence.
Justice Bogoro after listening to the submissions of the prosecutor and the convict’s lawyer’s plea, sentenced the convict to one year on count one, and six months on count two.
The judge however ordered the convict to pay a total sum of N1.9m, in lieu of the jail term. Justice Bogora also ordered that the Sienna used in transporting the drug be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.