By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka (Senior Correspondent)
Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of Federal High Court, Lagos on Monday sentenced a 35-year-old Cote d’Ivoire-based Nigerian, Grou Bi Clauvis, also known as Umeme Fabian Lotachukwu, to 10 years imprisonment for unlawfully dealing in 1.205 kilograms of methamphetamine, a prohibited drug.
The judge convicted and sentenced the accused after he pleaded guilty to one count charge of unlawful dealing in narcotics brought against him by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to the prosecutor Mr Abu Ibrahim, the convict was arrested by the anti-narcotics operatives on March 27, 2017, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, during outward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight to Doha, Qatar, with 1.205 kilograms of methamphetamine, a psychotropic substance identified as hard drug. The prosecutor further submitted that the offences committed by the convict are contrary to and punishable under section 11(b) of the NDLEA Act. Cap. N30, laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
When the matter was called today for review of the case by the prosecution, the convict who had pleaded guilty on the day he was arraigned,maintained his guilty plea. Consequently, the trial judge, Justice Olatoregun, ordered the prosecutor to review the fact of the matter.
In reviewing the fact of the case, the prosecutor, told the court how the convict was arrested with an Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) international passport with the said substance and $400 (United State Dollars).
The prosecutor also tendered before the court results of test analysis on the drugs, his confessional statements and sample of the drug, which were all admitted as exhibits.
After reviewing the fact of the case and admitting the exhibits, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence the man accordingly.
But in his alocutus (plea for leniency) the convict’s lawyer, Mr. Prosper Ojakovo, pleaded with the court to be lenient in sentencing his client, saying that he is a first time offender and has shown remorse. “Moreover, he pleaded guilty and did not waste the time of the court”. He assured the court that the convict will not engage in such act if granted second chance.
In sentencing the convict, Justice Olatoregun said: “I have taken into consideration that the convict is a first time offender, and also a young man.
“Am mindful of section 11 of the NDLEA Act,which is mandatory, but am going to vary it. It is of the public knowledge that the prison is full, and he is a young man.
“The convict is hereby sentenced to 10 years jail term or option of N10 million”.
Justice Olatoregun also ordered the NDLEA to forfeit the Cote d’Ivoire international passport to the government of Cote d’Ivoire. She further ordered NDLEA to forfeit the sum of $400 USD, found in his possession to the Federal Government of Nigeria, and that the money should be paid into the Federal Government account with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).