The Two Convicts

A Lagos Federal High Court, today, convicted a Saudi Arabia bound drug trafficker, Akanbi Silifat Tunrayo and her sponsor, Adebayo Adeola Wasiu, for Smuggling 2.90 kilograms of Cocaine to the holy land.

Both the Saudi Arabia bound drug trafficker and her sponsor were convicted and given four years jail terms, by Justice Daniel Osiagor, after they pleaded guilty to the two counts charge of unlawful export of the banned substance made against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Mr. Abu Ibrahim, the NDLEA prosecutor, while arraigning the convicts, told the court that they committed the offences on April 19, 2023, during the outward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight to Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia via Doha.

Abu told the court that the first Convict, Adebayo Adeola Wasiu, connived with the duo of Alhaja Rashidat a.k.a. Mama Yinka and one Asumon,both now at large, and procured the second convict, Akanbi Silifat Tunrayo, to smuggle the banned drug.

To smuggle the drug, the prosecutor told the court that the convicts starched the drug with cotton wool.

He told the court that the offences committed by the convicts, are contrary to section 21 (2) (d) and punishable under section 11 (b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The two convicts pleaded guilty to the offences when the charges were read to them.

Following the guilty plea of the convicts, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence them according to the sections of laws they were charged with.

But their counsel, Chief Lilian Omotunde, pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing her clients.

She told the court that the convicts are first time convicts, who did not have previous record of conviction and that they did not waste the time of the court.

Justice Osiagor in his judgment, sentenced each of the convicts to two years imprisonment with two weeks community service.

However, the judge ordered the convicts to pay the sum of N2 million in lieu of the jail-term.