A driver, Segun Odeyemi, was today convicted and sentenced to a total of 10 years imprisonment for trafficking in 3,842.3 Kilograms 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 charge of unlawful trafficking and dealing in the prohibited substance made against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Before 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 kilograms, on July 1, 2023, at Eleganza Road, Lekki Area, Lagos State.
Mamza told the court that the convict used a white truck to conceal and convey the said 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 the two counts charge.
Following his guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence him following the sections of the NDLEA Act he was charged with.
But the convict, though, his lawyer, while pleading for leniency, said he is 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 temper justice with mercy in sentencing him and considered an option of a fine instead of a custodial sentence.
Justice Aluko in his judgment, after considering all the submissions made by both the prosecutor and convict’s counsel, sentenced the driver to five years imprisonment in each of the counts of the charge.
Justice Aluko however, ordered that the sentence on each count shall run concurrently and the date he was arrested and detained.
The judge also ordered that the prohibited weed be destroyed if there is no appeal against the judgment after the period stipulated by the 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 Kilograms 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 Law Enforcement Agency Act.
