A Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced two tramadol smugglers, Ehiarimwian Osarobo Emmanuel (physically challenged) and Olagunju Abass Ayodeji, to five and three years’ imprisonment respectively.
The smugglers were sentenced after they pleaded guilty to a one-count charge each made against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
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Arraigning the convicts on separate charges marked FHC/L/489c/2022 and FHC/L/504c/2022, the prosecutors, Abu Ibrahim and Augustine Nwagu, informed the court that Ehiarimwian, was arrested on August 28, 2022, at the the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja-Lagos, during an outward clearance of passengers with 2.65kg of tramadol which he intended to smuggle to Milan, Italy.
While the second convict, 25-year-old Olagunju, was arrested on August 24, 2022, at the same airport with 400g of tramadol which he wanted to smuggle to Oman.
Following their guilty plea, the convicts’ lawyers pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing their clients as they were first-time offenders and for not wasting the court’s time.
Justice Osiagor after sentencing them, however, gave the first convict, Ehiarimwian, an option of N50,000 fine, while the second convict, Olagunju, was given a fine of N30,000.