Court Jails Freight Agent 5 Years For Drug Trafficking

Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced 55-year-old, Sharafadeen Oyeyemi, to five years imprisonment for exporting several banned substances.

Justice Aneke jailed Oyeyemi after he pleaded guilty to a three-count charge of unlawful export of the banned substances brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu, told the court that the convict was arrested on January 9, 2023, with the banned substances, which he intended to export to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), at Export Shed at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Nwagu listed 900 grammes of Tramadol 225mg; 100 grammes of Rohypnol, and grammes of Ecstasy, all Psychotropic substances similar to Heroin and Cocaine, which the convict was arrested with.

He said the offence was contrary to section 20(1)(a) and punishable under section 20(2)(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Based on the defendant’s plea, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence him by section 247 of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

Nwagu also urged the court to allow his agency to destroy the seized drugs at the expiration of the time stipulated for the appeal of the judgment.

But the defence lawyer, Uche Okoronkwo, in his plea for mercy, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, asking the court to consider his client’s timely guilty plea.

Justice Aneke, in his judgment, sentenced the convict to five years imprisonment in each of the counts.

The judge, however, gave him an option of N5 million instead of the jail terms while he also ordered him to perform a 100-day community service.