Court jails man 15 years for trafficking marijuana

A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced one
Egbutiegbo Aloysius to a jail term of 15 years for
trafficking marijuana without lawful authority.
Aloysius, a businessman and a father of five,
was convicted and sentenced by Justice
Mohammed Idris.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,
which arraigned Aloysius on one count of trading
illegally in hard drug, told the court that the
convict was caught with 19.80 kilogrammes of
Cannabis Sativa, otherwise called marijuana.
The convict was said to have been apprehended
on June 12, 2014, at the departure hall of the
Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja,
with the illicit substance which the NDLEA said
he had intended to export to China.
NDLEA charged Aloysius for contravening Section
11(a) of NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Law of the
Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Though he had pleaded not guilty upon his
arraignment, the convict, however, elected to
change his plea to guilty after he was remanded
in prison because he did not meet the conditions
attached to the bail given to him by the court.
Following his change of plea, the NDLEA
prosecutor, Mary Eke, reviewed the facts of the
case during which she tendered various exhibits
and a report of the test on the illicit substance.
Before the verdict was pronounced, the defence
counsel, Sunday Obunor, urged the court to
temper justice with mercy.
The judge, however, said, “I only show mercy to
those that take hard drugs either on health
ground or otherwise, but not for those that deal
in it.
“I give you 15 years, effective from the first day
of your arrest.”