Justice Musa Kurya of a Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted a businessman, Chibueze Oneigbo, for trafficking in 210 grammes of cocaine and jailed him for 10 years.
The judge said the sentence handed down to Chibueze was in line with the issued sentencing guidelines for judges of the Federal High Court, adding that his prison term would start counting from Monday.
The 38-year-old convict, who was arrested with the illicit substance at the Murtala Mohammed Int'l Airport in Lagos, in April 2013, had since August 29, 2013 been arraigned before Kurya.
He had pleaded not guilty to the charge leveled against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and was granted a N5m bail with one surety in like sum.
But the NDLEA prosecutor, Mr. Linus Nor, had maintained that Chibueze trafficked in the illicit drug and that he concealed the 210g of cocaine in a black leather bag before he was caught during the outward clearance of passengers on board a Qatar Airline flight.
Mr. Nor said Chibueze violated the NDLEA Act, and to prove his case, he called two witnesses.
In his judgment on Monday, Justice Kurya said he was satisfied that the prosecution had proved its case on the matter beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge ruled, “I have considered all the above, and I am of the view that the prosecution has discharged its burden of proof. I have listened to the plea for leniency by the accused, and have taken into consideration all that has been said.
“In any case, the court is duty-bound to sentence the accused having found him guilty. More so, the court is guided by the sentencing guideline recently released for Federal High court Judges.
“Consequently, I hereby sentence the accused to 10 years imprisonment, from the day of this judgment. The drug exhibits in custody of the NDLEA are to be destroyed within 30 days, if there is no appeal against this judgment.”
No comments:
Post a Comment