Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced a 31-year-old bricklayer, Bolaji Rasheed, to two years imprisonment, for selling Cannabis Sativa, also known as Indian Hemp, at the Ikoyi custodial centre of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS).
Justice Awogboro jailed Rasheed after he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of trafficking and unlawful dealing in 5.3 kilograms of Indian hemp, brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
While reviewing the facts of the case, the prosecutor, Mrs Monica Erondu, had informed the judge that the convict was arrested with the banned weed, on December 2, 2022, at the Ikoyi Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Lagos, where he was selling the illicit drug.
Erondu maintained that the offence is contrary to and punishable under Sections 11(b) and 11 (c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N 30 LFN 2004.
She consequently urged the court to sentence the convict in accordance with sections 274(2) and 375 of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
But the convict, while pleading for mercy, claimed that it was the first time he was selling the banned weed. He also promised not to engage in any form of a crime if given a second chance by the court.
The defence lawyer, Bolanle Kolawole, told the court that her client was a bricklayer who ‘smoked’ the Indian hemp for energy while working.
She pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing him while she also urged the court to award an option of a fine instead of a custodial sentence.
Justice Awogboro, in her judgment, sentenced the convict to two years imprisonment without an option of a fine, stating that the verdict would serve as a deterrent to others who may be engaged in similar acts or are planning to get involved in crime in the future.
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