Court Jails 4 Drug Traffickers

Justice Friday Ogazi of the Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced three men, Ebulue Uzochukwu, Michael Ndubuisi, Nwafor Boniface and a woman, Doris Robert, to different prison terms for trafficking in various illegal drugs.

Justice Ogazi jailed the convict after they pleaded guilty to the drug trafficking charges brought by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Tuesday.

Justice Ogazi sentenced Uzochukwu and Ndubuisi to 12 months in prison and a N1 million fine each for conspiracy and unlawful possession of 16 grams of cocaine, 5.40 kilograms of methamphetamine, 200 grams of methcathinone, and 10.70 kilograms of cannabis sativa, in charge FHC/L/1214 c/2025.

The judge also ordered that if they choose not to pay the fine, they will serve an additional four months’ imprisonment.

The court also sentenced Boniface to 18 months’ imprisonment for the same offences, but it gave him the option of paying a N4 million fine or performing four months of community service instead of the custodial sentence.

Robert was sentenced to 18 months for unlawfully exporting 3.80 kilograms of Tramadol 225 mg.

She was also ordered to pay a fine of N1.5 million and perform four months of community service by the court.

The judge further ordered that her international passport be seized and returned to the Nigerian Immigration Service for cancellation.

The prosecutor, Abu Ibrahim, had earlier told the court that Uzochukwu and Ndubuisi committed their offences on November 18, 2025, at GUO Motor Park in Onitsha, Anambra State, and Lagos State.

He claimed that Nwafor was arrested in November 2025 at the NAHCO Export shed at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Doris was apprehended on November 13, 2025, during the outbound clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways from Lagos to Italy, in violation of Sections 19 and 11(b) of the Nigerian NDLEA Act of 2004.

Based on their guilty pleas, the prosecutor urged the court to convict them under section 274(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2025.

The defence lawyers, R. M. J. Nyiew, Kate Igbo, and Uche Okoronkwo, pleaded for leniency, citing their clients’ status as first-time offenders and requesting the court to show mercy.