50-yr-old man bags 3 years jail term for trafficking 88.3kg of prohibited drug
By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has added to its kitty the conviction of a 50-year old man, Mukaila Idowu, on Tuesday by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The man, a driver who was arraigned before Justice Akintayo Aluko pleaded guilty to one count charge of trafficking in 88.3 kilogrammes of a substance analysed to be Cannabis Sativa, commonly known as marijuana.
Consequently Justice Aluko, convicted him after he pleaded guilty to one count charge of unlawful trafficking in 88.3 Kilogrammes of the banned weeds and sentenced him to three years imprisonment.
According to the charge the convict was arrested with the prohibited weed, on May 30, 2023, on Otedola Bridge, Lagos-lbadan Expressway, Lagos. He concealed the drug in his Toyota Sienna car.
It was stated in the charge read to him before the court that the offence committed by the convict contravened Section 11 (b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N 30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and punishable under the same Act.
The convict admitted committing the offence and pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against him.
Following his guilty plea, the prosecutor, N.J. Mamza, urged the court to convict and sentence him in accordance with the section of the NDLEA Act which he was charged with.
In responding, counsel to the convict, Barrister Oreofe Ogunleye, in her allocutus, pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing her client, saying that the convict is a first time offender.
The counsel prayed the court to consider the timely plea of guilty to the charge by the convict as a sign of remorse, adding that that her client has vowed not to be involve in crime.
Oreofe particularly told the court that the convict was deceived by the owner of the ‘goods’, who hired him to convey the consignment.
She further urged the court to grant the convict a non-custodian sentence or an option of fine in lieu of custodian sentence.
After hearing submission of counsel to parties, Justice Aluko sentenced the convict to three years imprisonment.
However, the judge ordered the convict to pay the sum of N600, 000, in lieu of the jail-term. In addition to the fine option, the judge ordered the convict to perform 100 hour community service, at Eti-Osa Local Government of Lagos State.
