A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday admitted six men facing trial for drug trafficking to bail in the sum of N30 million each.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) charged Celestine Okeke, 36; Nwokolo Amobi, 38; Bayo Oluwade, 50; Paul Eze alias Skipper, 39; Ikechukwu Ezeh, 36; and Samson Ikenna, 34, with conspiracy, unlawful production, storage, and transportation of 309kg of ephedrine, a banned narcotics substance.
They pleaded not guilty.
Justice Saliu Saidu ordered that the sureties must be owners of landed property within the court’s jurisdiction, must be a Federal or State Civil servant not below GL15 and must submit recent passport photographs.
The court held that the document must be verified by the court’s registry.
He adjourned the case until May 30 for trial.
According to the charge, the defendants were said to have conspired on March 19, to import the banned substance from Ghana to Nigeria, without lawful authority.
They were alleged to have also dispatched and trafficked the narcotics between Lagos and Enugu States.
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Besides, they were also alleged to have engaged in the production of another banned narcotics called Metaphetamine.
The offence, the prosecution said, contravened the provisions of sections 11(b), 11(a), 14 (a), 19, 20(1)(a) and 20(e) of the NDLEA Act Cap N 30 Laws of The Federation 2004.
After their pleas, the prosecutor, Mr. Jonathan Ogunbor asked the court for a trial date and urged it to remand the defendants in custody pending their trial.
Defence counsel, Chief Benson Ndakara, however informed the court of a bail application filed on behalf of the defendants, urging the court to admit them to bails on liberal terms.
