25-year-old man sentenced to three years for marijuana trafficking

A 25-year-old man, Faruk Mumuni, has been convicted and sentenced to three years in prison by a Federal High Court in Lagos for unlawfully trafficking 153.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa, commonly known as marijuana.

Justice Deinde Dipeolu handed down the sentence after Mumuni pleaded guilty to a two-count charge filed against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Mumuni, who was arrested with the prohibited substance alongside his mother on August 13, 2025, in the Mushin area of Lagos State, was the sole defendant in the case.

Following the conclusion of the investigation, the agency released his mother, and he was formally charged in a case marked FHC/L/755c/2025.

During the court hearing, the prosecutor, Buhari Abdullahi, detailed the charges, stating that Mumuni was apprehended with two separate quantities of the illicit drug, weighing 149 kilograms and 4.5 kilograms, respectively.

He emphasised that the defendant’s actions violated Section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, an offence punishable under the same law.

Mumuni confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty to both charges.

Based on Mumuni’s plea, the prosecutor, after presenting the facts and tendering exhibits, requested the court to proceed with a conviction and appropriate sentencing.

In a plea for leniency, the convict’s lawyer, Emmanuel Uchenna Okenyi, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.

Okenyi revealed that his client was a first-time offender with no prior convictions and had expressed a commitment to reform, vowing to stay away from a life of crime if given a second chance.

He urged the court to consider a non-custodial sentence.

Justice Dipeolu, after confirming the facts of the case and the submissions of both the prosecutor and the defence counsel, sentenced Mumuni to a three-year jail term, with an alternative that the convict could pay a fine of ₦5 million in place of imprisonment.

The charges against Mumuni stated that on or about August 13, 2025, in Mushin, Lagos, he “without lawful authority dealt in 149 kilograms of cannabis Sativa and separately dealt in 4.5 grams of cannabis sativa,” both offences contrary to and punishable under the aforementioned NDLEA Act.

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