An Indian Hemp Merchant, Lukman Akintunde, has been convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment for illegal dealing in 342 kilograms of the prohibited weed.
The convicted man was given the jail-term by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Lagos Federal High Court, last Friday, after pleaded guilty to a count charge made against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The convict according to the prosecutor, Mr. Raphael Hinmikaiye, was arrested with the prohibited substance by the NDLEA operatives, on August 24, 2023, along Ashippa Seme Gbetrome Area of Badagry, Lagos State.
Hinmikaiye also told the court that illegal act of the convict, contravened section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as amended, and punishable under the same Act.
He consequently urged the court to convict and sentence the Indian Hemp Merchant, owing to his guilty plea and in accordance with the section of the law he was charged with.
But the convict’s counsel, Bolanle Kolawole, in her allucutor, pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing her client.
Barrister Kolawole urged the court to consider the timely guilty plea of her client as a sign of change of mind, adding that her client has promised not to involve in any form of crimes if given another opportunity.
She further pleaded with the court to consider a non-custodian and fine option of sentence in lieu of custodian sentence.
Justice Aneke, in his judgment, sentenced the Convict to two years jail-term for the offence.
Justice Aneke however, awarded a fine option of N1 million in lieu of the jail-term.
Charge against the convicted indian Hemp Merchant reads: “that you, Lukman Akintunde, Male, Adult, on or about the 24th August, 2023, along Ashippa Seme Gbetrome Area, Badagry, Lagos, wit in jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without lawful authority dealt in 342 Kilogrames of Cannabis sativa, a narcotic drug similar to Cocaine, Heroin a LSD, thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as amended.”
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