A 38 year old-man, Olorunfunmi Saheed Olakunle, was last week Friday, convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment, for smuggling cannabis sativa weighing 1.80 kilograms, from the United States of America (USA).
Olakunle was sentenced by Justice Ibrahim Kala, of a Lagos Federal High Court. Justice Kala handed down the jail terms of the convict after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and unlawful importation of the banned weed.
The convict, according to the prosecutor, Mr. Augustine Nwagu, was arrested with the cannabis, which was concealed in boxing kits, on January 4, during the clearance of Cargo on Egypt Air from the United States of America at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Nwagu told the court that the convict conspired with an America-based Nigerian, Semiu Salami, to commit the illicit acts.
The prosecutor told the court that the convict’s acts, contravened sections 14(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The convict, admitted committing the illicit acts, when the charge marked FHC/L/25c/24, was read to him.
Following his guilty plea, the prosecutor after reviewing the facts of the charges, urged the court to convict and sentence him in relation to the sections of the NDLEA Acts and the Administration of Criminal Justice (Act) ACJA 2015.
However, lawyer to the convict, Bolanle Kolawole, in her allucutor, urged the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing her client, saying that the convict is a first time offender without any record of previous crime and conviction.
Kolawole told the court that her client was lured and deceived by Semiu Salami, who resides in America to commit the crime.
She therefore urged the court to give her client a non-custodian sentence or a fine option in lieu of the jail-term.
Justice Kala, after confirming that the convict did not have any record of conviction, sentenced the convict to two years imprisonment in each of the counts.
The judge however ordered the convict to pay the sum of N200, 000, on each count, and to perform 30 days Community Service, in addition to the monetary fine option.
Charges Against The Convict Reads: “That you Olorunfunmi Saheed Olakunle, male, 38 years old, sometime in January 2024 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired with Mr Semiu Salami, male (now at large) to import 1.80 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa a narcotic drug substance similar to Cocaine, Heroin or LSD and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 14(b) and 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
That you Olorunfunmi Sahe edOlakunle, male, 38 years; on or about the 4th day of January 2024 during the clearance of Cargo on Egypt Air from the United States of America at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court without lawful authority imported 1.80 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa a narcotic drug similar to Cocaine, Heroin or LSD and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. 2004.
