By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
A 49-year-old man, Ariyibi Ahmed Olaseinde, was on Tuesday sentenced to five years imprisonment, for attempting to illegally export 11.5 kilograms of Cocaine to Saudi Arabia.
Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos pronounced the sentence after finding the defendant guilty as charged.
The drug trafficker had pleaded guilty to the two counts charge of conspiracy and illegal export of the drug preferred against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to the NDLEA prosecutor, Mr. Augustine Nwagu, the convict was arrested with the drug on February 20, 2023, at the Screening Hall of Terminal 11 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, during the outward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight to Medina, Saudi Arabia via Doha.
Reviewing the facts of the case after the defendant pleaded guilty, Mr Nwagu told the court that the convict conspired with one Jeleel Badmus, now at large, to commit the crime.
He told the court that during interrogation, the convict said he was commissioned by Jeleel Badmus (now at large) to traffick the banned substance on the promise that he would be paid $1,500 USD, adding that he had been paid $300 as part of the money promised.
While reviewing the facts of the case, Mr. Nwagu also tendered several exhibits which were admitted by the court.
Among the exhibits tendered by the prosecutor are: the seized drug, his two confessional statements and his two ECOWAS/Nigeria International passports and $300 USD.
The prosecutor thereafter urged the court to convict and sentence him according to the sections of the NDLEA Act he was charged with.
According to the charge, the criminal acts of the convict, contravened Sections 14(b) and 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
However, the defence counsel Chief Lilian Omotunde in her allocutus pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing her client.
Chief Omotunde, particularly urged the court to give her client an option of fine in lieu of custodian sentence, saying that the convict is a first-time offender, and did not waste precious time of the court and prosecution.
In his judgement, after listening and considering the allocutus by defence counsel, Justice Aneke sentenced the convict to five years imprisonment.
The judge however ordered the convict to pay the sum of N5 million in lieu of the jail term.
The judge further ordered the convict to perform 150 hours of community service in addition to the fine option. In addition he was ordered to forfeit his two traveling passports and the sum of $300 USD to the Federal Government of Nigeria.