A 32-year-old man, Lukman Salao Adeyemo, was yesterday convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment for unlawfully dealing in 100 grams of cannabis, popularly called Indian hemp.
The convict was arraigned before a Federal High Court, Lagos, on a count charge of the offence by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Arraigning the convict, the prosecutor, Mr Ichakpa Oigoga, told Justice A. Onyentenu that the convict was arrested by the men of Nigeria Navy on November 16, 2019 at Marine Bridge, Apapa, Lagos, where he was hawking the said banned weed.
Oigoga told the court that Adeyemo admitted before the Naval men to dealing in the banned weed unlawfully and was consequently handed over to NDLEA operatives for further investigation and prosecution.
He further informed the court that laboratory and forensic test conducted on the weed proved positive to be cannabis and the convict admitted to being the owner of the weed.
The prosecutor stated that the convict, upon the confession, was brought before the court on the charge.
Adeyemo admitted guilty to the charge after it was read to him.
Following the “guilty” plea, Mr Oigoga urged the court to pronounce the defendant guilty as charged and sentence him as prescribed by Section 11(c) of the NDLEA Act.
However, counsel to the defendant, Bolanle Kolawole, urged the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing his client as “he is a first-time offender and has vowed not to engage in the act again.”
After listening to the submissions of the prosecutor and defence counsel, Justice Onyetenu sentenced Adeyemo to six months imprisonment.
The judge also ordered that the seized weed be destroyed by NDLEA if there was no appeal against the judgment within the period prescribed by the law.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
