By Yetunde Ayobami Ojo
Justice Daniel Osiagor of a Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday, convicted a Saudi Arabia-bound drug trafficker, Akanbi Silifat Tunrayo, and her sponsor, Adebayo Adeola Wasiu, for smuggling 2.90 kilogrammes of cocaine to the holy land.
The judge sentenced Tunrayo and Wasiu to four years imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to the two-count charge of unlawful export of the banned substance brought against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The prosecuting counsel, Abu Ibrahim, told the court that the convicts 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 Wasiu connived with the duo of Alhaja Rashidat aka Mama Yinka and one Asumon, both now at large, procured the second convict, Tunrayo, to smuggle the banned drug. He added that the convicts starched the drug with cotton wool.
According to prosecution, their 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 charge when it was read to them. Following their guilty plea the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence them according to the sections of laws they were charged with.
But the defendance counsel, Lilian Omotunde, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing them She told the court that the convicts are first time offenders, who did not have previous record of conviction and that they did not waste the time of the court.
However, while delivering judgment, the judge sentenced each of the convicts to two years imprisonment with two weeks community service. The judge also ordered the convicts to pay the sum of N2 million in lieu of the jail term.
Source: The Guardian