38 year-old man jailed for trafficking ephedrine

A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Friday, sentenced a 38 year-old man, Toriola Ayodele, three years imprisonment for trafficking 6.62kg of a precursor chemical called ephedrine.

Ephedrine, according to experts, is a medication and stimulant often used to prevent low blood pressure during spinal anaesthesia.

The stimulant is also been used for asthma, narcolepsy and obesity but is not the preferred treatment and is of unclear benefit in nasal congestion, they added.

The convict was charged by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) before Justice Ayokunle Faji on a one count charge of drug trafficking to which he pleaded guilty.

After his plea, the prosecutor, Mr Augustine Nwagu reviewed the facts of the case before the court and tendered several exhibits which the court admitted and marked, urging the court to convict and sentence the accused based on pieces of evidence adduced.

In his judgment on Friday, Faji said the court found the accused guilty of the offence and accordingly convicted and sentenced him to three years imprisonment, beginning from the date of his arrest.

He ordered that the drug tendered before the court as exhibits be disposed by NDLEA, if no appeal subsists against the judgment.

The prosecutor had told the court that Ayodele was apprehended at gate C departure hall of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos during the routine check on passengers’ belongings.

Nwagu also said the chemical was found in possession of the convict, neatly concealed in his traveling bag.

According to him, ephedrine is listed in the second schedule of the NDLEA Act, as a precursor chemical.

The offence contravenes the provisions of Sections 11 (b) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation, 2018.