A driver, Segun Odeyemi, was today convicted and sentenced to a total of 10 years imprisonment for trafficking in 3,842.3 kilogrammes of Cannabis sativa, a banned substance similar to cocaine and heroin.
Justice Akintayo Aluko, who presided over the court, passed the sentence on the 38-year-old driver after he pleaded guilty to the two counts of unlawful trafficking and dealing in the prohibited substance made against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Prior to the driver’s conviction, NDLEA, through its prosecutor, N. J. Mamza, told the court that he was arrested with the unlawful consignment weighing 3,842.3 kilogrammes on July 1, 2023, at Eleganza Road, Lekki Area, Lagos, Lagos State.
Mamza told the court that the convict used a white truck to conceal and convey the banned substance.
The prosecutor told the court that the illegal acts of the convict contravened sections 11(b) and 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N 30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, and were punishable under the same Act.
The convicted driver pleaded guilty to all counts of the charge.
Following his guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence him in accordance with the sections of the NDLEA Act he was charged with.
But the convict, through his lawyer, while pleading for leniency, said he was a victim of circumstances, as he was misled by the owner of the drug, who did not disclose to him the content that was given to him to transport.
He therefore pleaded with the court to tamper with justice with mercy in sentencing him and considered an option of a fine in lieu of a custodian sentence.
In his judgement, Justice Aluko, after considering all the submissions made by both the prosecutor and convict’s counsel, sentenced the driver to five years imprisonment on each of the counts of the charge.
Justice Aluko, however, ordered that the sentence on each count run concurrently with the date he was arrested and detained.
The judge also ordered that the prohibited weed be destroyed if there is no appeal against the judgement after the period stipulated by law.
Charges against the driver read: “That you, Segun Odeyemi Male, 38 years old, on or about the 1st day of July, 2023, at Eleganza Road, Lekki Area, Lagos, Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court without lawful authority, trafficked in 3,842.3 kilogrammes of Cannabis sativa, a drug similar to cocaine, heroin, and LSD, and you thereby committed an offence as provided for and punishable under Section 11(b) of the National Drug Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
“That you, Segun Odeyemi, Male, 38 years old, on or about the 1st day of July, 2023, at Eleganza Road, Lekki Area, Lagos, Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without lawful authority, dealt in 3,842.3 kilogrammes of Cannabis sativa, a drug similar to cocaine, heroin, and LSD, and you thereby committed an offence as provided for and punishable under Section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N 30 LFN 2004.”
