6th December, 2023
By Akin Kuponiyi
A Federal High Court in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on Wednesday sentenced a drug dealer Azubuike Jeremiah Emeka to five years imprisonment or N3 million fine in place of imprisonment.
The convict was arraigned before the court on one count charge of importation of 7.8 Kilogrammes of Cocaine into the country from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In the said one count charge filed before the court by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), prosecuting counsel, Augustine Nwagu, stated thus: “That you Azubuike Jeremiah Emeka, male, adult, on or about the 8th day of January 2021 during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa at ‘E’ Arrival Hall of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja – Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court without lawful authority imported 7.8 kilogrammes of Cocaine 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.
The convict pleaded guilty to the charge, consequently, the presiding Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke convicted him accordingly.
In reviewing the facts of the case, Nwagu, tendered the following documents as exhibits-the statement of the convict, two ECOWAS Passports, the drug, and scientific test analysis form.
His counsel Dennis Warri, urged the court to tamper justice with mercy, as the convict is a young man who had shown remorse and could still be useful to society, and that aside from this, he is a first offender.
However, in his response, Nwagu told the court that the convict was arrested through a bench warrant issued by the court on the 3rd of December, 2021 and that the court should take cognisance of the commercial quantity of the drug and the impact it would have taken on the youths.
In his judgement, Justice Aneke said this case should serve as a deterrent to others engaging in this type of nefarious activity.
“The convict is at this moment sentenced to five years imprisonment or a fine of N3 million,” the judge pronounced.