3 hard drug traffickers get 15-year jail sentence

Three drug traffickers are to spend the next 15 years behind bars, a court ruled in Lagos on Monday.

A Federal High Court which handed down the verdict, said the trio — Bukola Adeoye, 24; Muyideen Ipumafayi, 35; and Alani Babaraji, 30 — were convicted following their guilty pleas.

The judge, who gave the convicts an option of N5 million fine each, sentenced them to five years imprisonment each.

They were arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on three separate charges bordering on trafficking in hemp.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Adeoye was first arraigned on March 6, 2013, before Justice John Tsoho and had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

However, Tsoho was transferred from the Lagos Division of the court, while Justice Mojisola Olatoregun, took over as the new trial judge.

On February 1, Adeoye opted to change her plea, leading to her being re-arraigned and remanded in prison while the court adjourned proceedings for a review of facts.

The prosecutor said she was arrested at Ejigbo in Lagos with about 12.15 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa (Indian hemp).

Ipumafayi was arrested on December 7, 2016 on Lagos-Ibadan highway for also transporting about 10.4 kilogrammes of hemp.

He was arraigned on January 26 had pleaded guilty to the charges, while the court also adjourned for a review of facts.

Babaraji was arrested on November 29, 2016 at an uncompleted building at Ijegun area of Lagos for dealing in 1.1 kilogrammes of cannabis. He was arraigned on January 26 and pleaded guilty to the charge.

At the resumed hearing of the case last Friday, the prosecutor, Mr Jeremiah Aernan, reviewed the facts of the cases and tendered evidences before the court.

He tendered a statement of the convicts, a request for scientific aid form, as well as the exhibits.

Delivering her judgment, Justice Olatoregun, found the trio guilty of the offences as charged.

She sentenced Adeola, Ipumafayi and Babaraji to a term of five years imprisonment each which would run from the date of judgment.