Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos has remanded five employees of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) and staff of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO) in prison for allegedly conspiring unlawfully importing 886.85 kilograms of Tramadol into Nigeria.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa ordered that the defendants be kept behind bars after they were arraigned before him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on a five-count charge of conspiracy, unlawful possession and transportation of the said prohibited narcotic analgesic.
The five NAHCO Officials are; Yunana Fidelis, Nyam Gazu Alex, Fasoranti Shola, Adesanwo Temitope and Owoseni Taiwo Temidayo, while the SAHCO staff arraigned with them is, Ifijeh John Mowa.
The lawyer who represented the NDLEA in court, Abu Ibrahim, claimed that the first defendant, Yunana Fidelis, on March 14, 2022, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, conspired with one Offor Chukwudi Benjamin (now at large) of M/S A MARC International Limited of No. 201 Idris Lawal Way Amukoko, Lagos, to import the banned drug.
Ibrahim also told the judge that all the defendants unlawfully had in their possessions and transported the said 886.85 kilograms of Tramadol from the E-Arrival wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja-Lagos to the Personnel Area of the said Airport.
The prosecutor stated that the offences are contrary to sections 14 (b); 20 (1)(a); 20 (1) (c)of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under Section 20 (2) (a) of the said Act.
But all the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The judge also ordered that the defendants be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCOS) pending the ruling.
