A 23-year-old man, Stephen Otega, was on Tuesday sentenced to four months imprisonment for trafficking in hard drugs.
Otega was jailed by Justice Patricia Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, for unlawfully trafficking 1.5 kg of Indian hemp.
Delivering judgment, Ajoku said she convicted Otega, based on evidence tendered before her and the fact that Otega had pleaded guilty to the charge.
The judge said she took cognisance of Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 in reducing the jail term of the convict.
She, thereafter, advised Otega to take advantage of the court’s mercy on him to be a good citizen by keeping away from vices such as drug trafficking.
“Otega is hereby sentenced to four months in prison and the sentence starts from the date he was first arrested.’’
The defense counsel, Mr Musbau Olapade, had earlier prayed the court to temper justice with mercy by reducing his client’s jail term.
Earlier, counsel to the Oyo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr R.J. Himinkaiye, told the court that the convict committed the crime on Sept. 10 at Trans-Amusement Park, Bodija, in Ibadan.
He stated that Otega was apprehended with a sack, containing 1.5 kg of the illicit substance and was arraigned on a count charge bordering on unlawful dealing in cannabis.
The prosecutor argued that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 11 (C) of the NDLEA Act Cap. N30 Law of the Federation, 2004. (NAN)
