41-yr- old man bags jail term for dealing in 359 grams of narcotic drug  

41-yr- old man bags jail term  for dealing in 359 grams of narcotic drug  

By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka 

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Wednesday convicted and sentenced one Ebere Dike to six months imprisonment or a fine of N100,000 for dealing in 349 grams of Cannabis Sativa.

In addition to paying the fine, the court ordered Ebere Dike to serve a 100 hour community service.  

According to the one count charge filed against the defendant by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA),  Ebere  was alleged to have on the 23rd day of December 2024 at Akerele Street, Agege, Lagos without lawful authority dealt in 359 grams of Cannabis Sativa, a narcotic drug similar to Cocaine, Heroin and LSD.

When the matter came up for arraignment on Wednesday (today) the prosecutor Ifeoma M. Erondu told the court that the prosecution  has a one count charge pending  before the court and urged the. court to order that the charge be read so that  the defendant can take his plea.

The charge was consequently read and  Ebere pleaded guilty to the same.

Following the guilty plea of the defendant, Erondu reviewed the fact of the case through a witness Nketah Benjamin, a Central Exhibit Officer with NDLEA, Lagos Strategic Command.

After the review of facts, the prosecutor tendered some documents, the defendant’s  statement and bulk of the drug substance as evidence which were admitted as exhibits.

She urged the court to convict the defendant based on his plea of guilt, the exhibits tendered and his extra-judicial statement.

Justice Aneke then convicted the defendant as charged 

Following the conviction of the defendant, his counsel , Mr Evans Ajoku made allocutus on behalf of the convict.

In his allocutus , Ajoku pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, adding that the convict did not waste the time of the court as he pleaded guilty at the first instance which shows that he is remorseful.

He also stated that the convict is an orphan who has a son to look after.

After listening to  Ajoku’s  allocutus, Justice Aneke while sentencing the convict said, ” I have carefully  considered the evidence before the court,  the  allocutus, the plea of guilty by the  defendant and the quantity of the drug. I am inclined to  tamper justice with mercy but  I am not  unmindful  of the harm the illicit drug has caused to  the society and the image of the  country at large. 

“Therefore  Ebere Dike,  Adult,  male and 41 years old is sentenced to six months imprisonment to commence  from the 23rd day of December, 2024 when he was arrested or in the alternative, a fine of N100,000 in lieu of imprisonment.

In case of paying an option of fine, the judge ordered that it shall be paid into the Federal government consolidated account and the convict will have to serve 100 hour community service.

The charge against the defendant reads:

That you Ebere Dike, Adult, Male 41 years old on or about the 23rd  day of  December 2024 at Akerele Street, Agege Lagos  State within the jurisdiction of this  Honorable Court without lawful authority dealt in 359 grams of Cannabis  Sativa, a narcotic drug similar to Cocaine, Heroin and LSD and thereby committed an offence as provided for and punishable under Section 11(c) of the  National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30  Laws of the Federation of Nigeria  2004 .