Segun Odeyemi, a 38-year-old driver, was given a 10-year prison term yesterday by Justice Akintayo Aluko of a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, for trafficking 3,842 kilograms of Cannabis sativa, an illegal narcotic that is similar to heroin and cocaine.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) presented a two-count accusation of unlawful trafficking and dealing in the forbidden substance against the 38-year-old motorist, and he entered a plea of guilty to both counts. The judge then handed down a punishment.
Earlier in the proceeding, NDLEA’s counsel, N. J. Mamza, told the court that the defendant was arrested with the unlawful consignment weighing 3, 842.3 kilogrammes, on July 1, at Eleganza Road, Lekki, Lagos.
He said the convict used a white truck to conceal and convey the said banned substance, adding that the defendant’s illegal acts contravened the provision of sections 11 (b) and 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N 30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and punishable under the same Act.
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Following the defendant’s guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence him in accordance with sections of the NDLEA Act he was charged with. But the convict’s counsel pleaded for leniency.
He told court that his client was a victim of circumstances, as the owner of the drug did not disclose to him the content that was given to him to transport.
He, therefore, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing him and considered an option of fine in lieu of custodian sentence.
After considering all the submissions made by both counsel, Justice Aluko sentenced the driver to five years imprisonment in each of the two counts.
The judge ordered that the sentence on each count shall run concurrently starting from the date he was arrested and detained.
The judge also ordered that the prohibited substance be destroyed if there is no appeal against the judgment after the period stipulated by the law.
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