Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced two traders, Amen Godstime and Aburime Hysent for trafficking in 7.1 kilograms of tramadol, a banned narcotic analgesic.
Justice Dipeolu sentenced the defendants after pleading guilty to two-count charge of exporting the banned drug without lawful authority filed against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
NDLEA’s prosecutor, Abu Ibrahim, told the court that the first convict, Godstime, was arrested on June 26, 2025, at the Departure Hall of Murtala Muhammad Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to smuggle 3.30 kilograms of tramadol to France.
Ibrahim also told the court that the second convict, Hysent was arrested on the same date at the same location while trying to smuggle 3.80 kilograms of the banned drug to Italy.
He claimed that the offence was in violation of Section 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
After their pleas were taken, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the case and tendered the seized drugs, their passports, and other evidence as exhibits.
Ibrahim then urged the court to convict and sentence them under the section of the NDLEA Act under which they were charged.
However, the defence lawyer, Dennis Warri, asked for leniency from the court, stating that his clients were first-time offenders with no prior records of convictions.
He also urged the judge for a non-custodial sentence instead of a jail term.
In his judgment, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Godstime to one year in prison and Hysent to 15 months.
The judge also imposed fines of N1 million on Godstime and N2 million on Hysent, and he ordered that the convicts’ passports and four mobile phones be forfeited to the federal government.
