Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced a 40-year-old woman, Ajoke Ogunyemi, to 12 months imprisonment for selling alcohol mixed with hard drugs, popularly called ‘Skushies’.
Justice Aluko jailed Ogunyemi after she pleaded guilty to a count charge of dealing in hard drugs brought against her by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The prosecutor, Mrs N. J. Mamza had earlier told the judge that the convict was arrested on July 23, 2023, at Titilayo Street, Egbe, in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, with 25 litres of the alcoholic drink.
She informed the court that when operatives of the NDLEA tested the illicit drink it contained heroin and other prohibited drugs.
The lawyer also claimed that the offence violated section 11(c) of the NDLEA Cap N.30 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004 and is punishable under the same Act.
Based on her plea, Mrs Mamza reviewed the facts of the charge and thereafter urged the court to sentence the convict in accordance with the act of the NDLEA under which she was charged.
But the convict, through her lawyer, pleaded for mercy, stating that she was a first-time offender with no previous record of conviction, a position which the prosecutor confirmed.
Justice Aluko, in his judgment, held that all the mitigating factors which permit the court to be merciful on any convict tilted in favour of the convicted woman.
The judge, therefore, sentenced her to 12 months imprisonment; with an option of a N300,000 fine instead of the jail terms.
