Two merchants of cannabis Sativa bag 15 years imprisonment each
By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted and sentenced two merchants of Cannabis Sativa (indian hemp) Saliu Wasiu and Afolabi Banjo to 15 years imprisonment for conspiracy and unlawful dealing in 247 kilograms of the banned weed.
Justice Akintayo Aluko slammed the jail term to a 48-year-old Saliu and 47-year-old Afolabi after they pleaded guilty to a three-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful dealing in the banned weed.
The duo were charged before the court by the operative of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to the prosecutor Mr. Lambert Nor, the convicts were arrested on June 5, 2023, at Ebute-Metta area of Lagos State.
The prosecutor also told the court that the convicts illegally warehoused the prohibited weeds in their houses from where they made their sales.
According to the charge, the convicts’ acts, contravened Sections 14(b) and 11(c) of the NDLEA Act Cap N.30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. And punishable under Section 12 of the same Act.
As the duo pleaded ‘guilty: to the charges, the prosecutor, Mr. Lambert, urged the court to convict them in accordance with the sections of the law they were charged with.
In his allocutus for the convicts, their counsel, Mr. Prosper Oke Ojakovo, pleaded the court, to temper justice with mercy in sentencing his clients.
Mr Prosper particularly told the court to consider timely plea of ‘guilty’ of the convicts who are first time offenders, adding that they did not waste the time of the court.
“The convicts have become remorseful and promised never to go back or be involved in any criminality.
He also urged the court to give his clients an option fine in lieu of custodian sentence.
In his judgment, Justice Aluko after taken Into consideration all the submissions made by parties, and mitigating factors, sentenced each of the convicts to five years imprisonment on each of the the counts.
The judge however, gave the convicts monetary option of fine of N1.5 million on each of the counts.
The judge however ordered that both the sentence and the fine option shall run concurrently.
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