Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced a 60-year-old woman, Esther Igbinosun to three years imprisonment, for receiving 5.5 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa, also known as marijuana, from her south African-based daughter.
Justice Osiagor Jailed the Oyo State-based convict after she pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of unlawful importation of the illicit substance brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The NDLEA’s prosecutor, Abu Ibrahim had earlier informed the judge that the convict, a resident of Adunkole Agbofieti Street, Apata, Ibadan, Oyo State, was arrested on November 25, 2022.
Ibrahim had also claimed that the convict procured a driver, Adebayo Kolawole, to transport the banned weed to her in Ibadan from the Import Shed of National Handling Company Limited (NAHCO), a Customs Area/Point of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja-Lagos.
The prosecutor had further told the court that the offence contravened Section 21 (2)(d) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under Section 11(b) of the same Act.
The convict, who was shivering throughout the court proceedings, admitted committing the offence and pleaded guilty to the charge.
Following her guilty plea, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the case and also tendered some exhibits, which included the convict’s extra-judicial statements and the seized drugs.
In her allucutor, the convict told the court that she was not aware that her daughter, whom she did not mention her name, hid the drug in the cargo she sent to her.
Her counsel, Anthony Nnamoko, also urged the court to temper justice with mercy and also consider the fact that she did not waste the time of the court
Justice Osiagor, after listening to the parties, sentenced the convict to three years imprisonment with an option of an N200,000 fine instead of the jail terms.
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