The long arms of the law have caught up with two traders from the popular Alaba-Rago Market in Lagos as they were sentenced to 12 months in prison for drug trafficking by the Federal High Court in the state.
Abubakar Sadiq and Isah Ibrahim were jailed by the vacation judge, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, after pleading guilty to a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful dealing in 11 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa, commonly known as marijuana.
The convicts were arraigned before the court by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The prosecutor, Abdullahi Buhari, had earlier told the court that the convicts were arrested on July 3 at the Alaba-Rago Market, located along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, while selling the illegal substance weighing 11 kilograms.
Buhari had also claimed that Sadiq faced two charges bordering on conspiracy and unlawful dealing in the banned substance, while Ibrahim was charged solely with conspiracy.
He further stated that Sadiq violated Sections 14(b) and 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation 2004, while Ibrahim’s offence was a violation of Section 11(c) of the same Act.
Based on their guilty pleas, the prosecutor presented the facts of the case, tendered evidence, and urged the court to convict and sentence them in accordance with the law under which they were charged.
However, the defence lawyer, Evans Njoku, made an impassioned plea for leniency, arguing that his clients were first-time offenders with no previous convictions.
Njoku also pointed out that his clients did not waste the court’s time and readily accepted responsibility for their actions.
He, therefore, urged the court to consider non-custodial sentences or fines instead of a jail term.
After considering the lawyer’s submission and confirming with the prosecutor that the traders were first-time offenders, Justice Dipeolu sentenced them to six months in prison on each count.
The judge also ordered the first convict, Sadiq, to pay a total of N1.1 million, while the second convict, Isah Ibrahim, was ordered to pay a fine of N500,000 as an alternative to imprisonment.
