A Lagos Federal High Court has convicted and sentenced 41-year-old Wasiu Kareem, to two and half years imprisonment for unlawful dealing in 25grams of cocaine.
The court presided over by Justice Ayokunle Faji, convicted and sentenced Kareem after the prosecuting agency, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) through its prosecutor, Mr. Jeremiah Aernan, successfully proved a count charge of unlawful dealing in hard drugs against him.
Justice Faji passed the judgment after the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the charge against the convict.
To prove the charge against the convict, the prosecutor called one witness and tendered his confessional statement and the seized drugs, which were admitted as exhibits by the court.
After listening to the review of the fact and admitting the exhibits tendered, the judge pronounced the man ‘convicted as charged’.
Following the judge’s pronouncement, Counsel to the convicted man, Bolanle Kolawole, in her allocutus, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing her client, as he is a first-time offender.
Kolawole also told the court that her client has learnt his lesson and became remorseful since he was arrested on October 9, 2021.
Having listened to the counsel’s plea, Justice Faji sentenced the convict to two and a half years imprisonment without option of a fine. He also ordered that the convict’s jail terms commence from October 9, 2021, when he was arrested.
The NDLEA operatives had arrested the convict, a resident of No. 9, Fagbemiro Street, Mushin in Lagos, on October 9, 2021.
According to the prosecutor, Mr. Aernan, the convict was arrested at a place called Seaside in Idiaraba, Mushin, where he was peddling the banned substance.
The offence according to NDLEA, is 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.
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