The Convict When He Was Arrested
Justice Ibrahim Kala of a Lagos Federal High Court, today, convicted and sentenced a 28 year-old man, Iheakara Ifeanyichukwu Festus, to two years imprisonment for attempting to export 9.80 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa, a.k.a. marijuana, to Oman, an Arabian country.
The convict was given the jail-term by Justice Kala, after he admitted committing the offence and pleaded guilty to a count charge, leveled against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The prosecution led by Mr. Augustine Nwagu, while arraigning the convict, told the court that he was arrested with the prohibited substance on April 18, 2024, at the Departure Hall of Terminal 11 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight to Oman via Addis Ababa.
The prosecutor told the court that the convict’s action, contravened section 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Upon the guilty plea of the convict to the charge, the prosecutor, through a witness, Heldar Dogo, an exhibit keeper, who tendered all the exhibits in the matter.
After the tendering of the exhibits, the prosecutor urged the court to sentence the convict in accordance with the section of the law he was charged.
However, lawyer to the convict, Chief Benson Ndakara, in his allucutor, pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing his client.
He told the court that his client is a first time convict, who did not have any previous conviction record and who did not waste the precious time of the court.
He told the court that his client was misled by those that wiser than him.
Ndakara pleaded with the court to consider an option of fine in lieu of the custodian sentence.
In his, judgment, Justice Kala after listening to the allucutor made by the convict’s lawyer, sentenced him to two years imprisonment.
The judge however ordered the convict to pay the sum of N500, 000, as option of fine in lieu of the jail term.
The charge against the convict reads: “That you Iheakara Ifeanyichukwu Festus, male, 28 years old, on or about the 18th day of April 2024 during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight to Oman via Addis Ababa at the Departure Hall of Terminal 11 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja – Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court without lawful authority exported 9.80 Kilogrames of Cannabis Sativa, a narcotic drug similar to Heroin, LSD or Cocaine and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
