Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court has convicted and sentenced two businessmen, Emmanuel Chukwuemeka and Kingsley Amanambu, to six years imprisonment for unlawful importation of 8,200 kilograms of cough syrup containing prohibited Codeine.
Justice Aluko also ordered that a White Toyota Tacoma V6 with registration Number EKY 883 GK, used to transport the prohibited drug, be forfeited to the federal government for being a proceeds of crime.
Justice Aluko jailed Chukwuemeka and Amanambu after they both pleaded guilty to a three-count charge of conspiracy, unlawful importation and dealing in the banned drug brought against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The prosecutor, Mrs Juliana Negedu, had earlier told the court that the convicts were arrested with the banned cough syrup on June 10, 2024, at Comfort Oboh Estate, Kirikiri, Apapa, Lagos.
Mrs Negedu also claimed that the two convicts conspired with some others, who are now at large, to commit the illicit act.
The prosecutor maintained that the convicts’ action contravened sections 14(b), 11(a) and 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act Cap N 30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and is punishable under Section 20(2)(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act Cap N 30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Based on their guilty plea, the prosecutor called a witness, Nathaniel Benjamin, an exhibit keeper with the NDLEA, who tendered the bulk of the seized drug and another exhibit in the charge, which the court admitted.
After the court admitted the exhibits, Mrs Negedu urged the court to convict and sentence the convicts as charged.
But the defence counsel, Rita Nyiew, in her plea for mercy, urged the court to be lenient with her clients by imposing a non-custodial sentence on them and, in the alternative, to award an option of a fine instead of the jail term.
The lawyer told the court that all the aggravating factors, which include being a first-time offender and the fact that the convicts pleaded guilty to the charges, are in their favour.
After listening to the lawyers and confirming from the prosecutor that the convicts did not have any previous record of conviction, Justice Aluko sentenced them to five years in count one, six years in count two and three years in count three.
The judge, however, ordered the convicts to pay N1 million fine instead of the jail term.
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