Justice Musa Kakaki of a Federal High Court, Lagos, on Thursday sentenced four foreign men, Godswill Zevor; Phillip Erugbe; Agbeko Dumuda and Monday Kponeba, to a total of 20 years imprisonment.
The four convicts were convicted on charges of conspiracy and unlawful transportation of 1,120 Kilogrames of cannabis Sativa.
They were charged by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA,and pleaded guilty to the offences.
According to the NDLEA lawyer, Paul Awogbuyi,the convicts were arrested on August 25, 2024, at the sea, along Oniru beach area of Lekki, Lagos state.
The offences, according to the prosecution, contravened Section 11(a) and 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004 and punishable under the same Act.
Some of the exhibits tendered include: bulk of the prohibited weed concealed in two jumbo sacs, their confessional statements and others.
The prosecution had urged the court to convict and sentence them in accord with the sections of NDLEA acts they were charged with.
However, the convicts lawyer, Barrister G. U. Okaka, pleaded with the court to show mercy to the convicts saying they did not waste the time of the court by admitting to committing the offence.
He also pleaded that the convicts were first time offenders and had no previous criminal record and urged the court to give them a fine option.
In his judgment, Justice Kakaki stated that giving them a fine would not deter them from committing the offence as several people who have been found guilty of such offences in the past but giving fine still went back into the same criminal activity.
“I have discovered that payment of fines has not deterred people from going into the illicit trade of drugs. I have also considered the quantity of the drug 1,120 kilograms and the damage caused to the society by the effect of the drug, as well as, the statements of the defendants to the effect that they involved themselves with the aim of getting paid for the job.
Consequently, each of the convicts is hereby sentenced to 5 years imprisonment on each count which is to run concurrently,” the court said.
According to the charge, the convicts ‘on or about the 25th day of August 2024, at the sea along Oniru beach area of Lekki, Lagos state, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without lawful authority, imported 1,120 kilogram of Cannabis Sativa, a narcotic drug similar to Cocaine, Heroin and LSD and thereby committed an offence provided for and punishable under Section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004.’