The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arraigned self-acclaimed High Priest Azuka Nnodu and two others before the Federal High Court in Lagos for the unlawful exportation of 14.90 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa and 204 Grams of Methamphetamine.
The NDLEA docked the High Priest, the founder and General Overseer of Seraphic and Sabbath Assembly, alongside Udoka Udezuka and Obasi Oyoyo before Justice Akintayo Aluko on a six-count charge of conspiracy and drug trafficking.
Nnodu was arraigned on allegations of conspiracy, unlawful exportation of the drugs and procuring Udezuka and Oyoyo to export the drugs unlawfully.
Udezuka and Oyoyo were arraigned on allegations of conspiracy and illegal exportation of the drug.
The prosecutor, Abu Ibrahim, told the judge that the defendants committed the offences with one Chisom, now at large, on February 9, 2023.
Ibrahim also informed the court that all the defendants were arrested with the drugs at the NAHCO Export Shed, a Customs Point at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja-Lagos.
He further insisted that the offences committed by all the defendants contravened sections 14 (b), 21 (2)(d) and 20 (1)(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and punishable under sections 11(b) and 20 (2)(a) of the same Act.
All the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.
Following their guilty plea, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the case through an NDLEA Exhibit keeper, Fredrick Atoni, after which he urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants by the sections of the law under which they were charged.
But the defence lawyer, Chief Benson Ndakara, expressed surprise over the defendants’ pleas, stating that he was surprised by their change of mind after he had dissipated energy and time to prepare and file their various bail applications.
Chief Ndakara, however, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing the defendants on the ground that they are first-time offenders without any record of previous conviction.
Justice Aluko, after taking submissions from the two parties, convicted all the defendants as charged while ordering that they be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) until he pronounced their sentences.
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