Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday convicted and sentenced two drug traffickers, Suleiman Oba and Salami Babatunde to 10 years imprisonment each for dealing in 25.10 kilogrammes of Ephedrine, a prohibited drug.
Justice Oweibo handed down the verdict after the men pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of conspiracy and trafficking in the banned substance brought against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency EFCC.
While the two convicts pleaded guilty, the third defendant in the trial, Edet Matthew, pleaded not guilty and his trial was fixed by the judge for.
The prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu had earlier told the court that the convict conspired with one Maruf Olasunkanmi Akande, who is now at large, to commit the illegal act on August 25, 2023.
Nwagu also informed the court that the convicted men were arrested with the drug during the clearance of passengers of a Rwandair flight to Johannesburg – South Africa, at the boarding gate of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The prosecutor also told the court that the offences committed by the convicted men contravened sections 14(b) and 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. And punishable under the same Act.
The defence lawyers, Chief Benson Ndakara and G. Okenyi pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing their clients.
They urged the court to consider the timely guilty plea of their clients as a sign of remorse and that they have promised not to engage in any crimes in the future.
The lawyer particularly urged the court to consider a non-custodial sentence and an acceptable option instead of the custodian sentence.
Justice Oweibo, in his judgment, sentenced each of the convicts to five years imprisonment on charges of conspiracy and drug trafficking.
