Court Jails Aviation Staff For Trying To Put Drugs In Passenger’s Luggage

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted Ajuzieogu MacElvis Ugochukwu, an airport worker, who attempted to put tramadol concealed in a bottle of dietary supplements in a Ghana-bound passenger’s luggage.

Ugochukwu, an employee of Pathfinder International Ltd, an aviation security service company, was sentenced to one year imprisonment alongside the owner of the illicit drug, Okosun Paul Punnit.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa handed down the verdict after the convicts pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy and unlawful exportation of the said drug, brought against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

It would be recalled that a video of the face-off between the passenger and Ugochukwu went viral on January 16, 2024, after the vigilant passenger suspected the consignment contained illicit substances.

The convicts were arraigned before the court on four charges of conspiracy and unlawful export of 17 grammes of Tramadol 225 mg, a psychotropic substance similar to Heroin.

The prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu, informed the court that the convicts committed the offences on January 14, 2024, at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Nwagu had also told the court that offences contravened sections 14(b) and 20(1)(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. And punishable 20(2)(a) of the same Act.

After reviewing the facts of the charge, the prosecutor urged the court to sentence the convict by section 274(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

He further pleaded with the court to release the banned drug to his agency for destruction if the convict chose not to appeal the judgment after the stipulated period.

Nwagu also prayed for the judge to order the confiscation of the second convict’s international passport by the federal government.

However, the defence lawyer, Israel Okon, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, stating that his clients are first-time offenders who did not have a previous conviction record.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa, in his judgment, sentenced each of the convicts to one-year imprisonment on each of the counts, which are to run concurrently.

The judge, however, ordered each defendant to pay the sum of N300,000,00 instead of the jail term.