A 40-year-old woman, Ogunyemi Ajoke, has been convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment by the Court of Law in Lagos for dealing and selling liquor laced with hard drugs, popularly called ‘Skushies’.
Justice Akintayo Aluko, who presided over the court, gave the verdict after the convicted woman pleaded guilty to a count charge leveled against her by the anti-narcotic agency, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The convict, according to the prosecutor, N. J. Mamza, was arrested on July 23, 2023, at Titilayo Street, Egbe, in Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos State, with 25 litres of the alcoholic drink.
She told the tribunal that the drink, when tested, contained heroin and other prohibited drugs.
She told the court that the offence committed by the convict contravened Section 11(c) of the NDLEA Cap N.30 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004 and was punishable under the same Act.
The convicted woman admitted committing the offence and pleaded guilty to the charge.
Following her plea of guilty, the court ordered the prosecutor to review the facts of the charge.
Upon reviewing the facts of the charge, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence the woman as prescribed by the NDLEA she was charged with.
But the convicted woman, through her lawyer, pleaded with the tribunal to have mercy on her as a first-time convict who did not have any record of previous convictions. The position was confirmed by the prosecutor.
In his judgment, Justice Aluko held that all the mitigating factors that permit the court to be merciful to any convict tilted in favour of the convicted woman.
The judge sentenced the woman to 12 months imprisonment but ordered her to pay a fine of N300,000 in lieu of the jail terms.
