A 25-year-old lady, Chioma Okocha and five men: Ndubuisi John, Haruna Aliyu, Saddam Abdullahi, Bashir Usman, and Usman Ibrahim, have been sentenced to a total of 141 years imprisonment for trafficking in cocaine and cannabis Sativa by federal high courts sitting in Benin, Edo and Abeokuta, Ogun state respectively.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Tuesday.
Chioma Okocha was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in jail by Justice AC Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Benin, for trafficking 200grams of crack cocaine following her arrest in Benin City, the Edo State capital on 24 September 2021 by NDLEA operatives.
She was subsequently arraigned in suit no. FHC/B/136c/2021, and pleaded guilty to a one-count charge when her case came up in court on Monday 15th November. The judge, however, granted her the option of paying a N2 million fine or spend 15 years in jail effective from 24 September when she was arrested while trying to deliver 200grams of cocaine to a customer at an eatery in Benin City.
The five men: Ndubuisi John; Haruna Aliyu; Saddam Abdullahi; Bashir Usman, and Usman Ibrahim were also convicted and sentenced to a combined 126 years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Abeokuta presided over by Justice Ogunremi Omowunmi Oguntoyinbo in suit no. FHC/AB/105c/2021.
The convicts were arrested on 14 September along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway conveying 46 bags of Cannabis Sativa weighing 552 kilograms in a truck, and subsequently charged on three counts of transportation, possession and dealing in the illicit drug.
In her judgment, Justice Oguntoyinbo sentenced the first, second and third accused persons to 30 years imprisonment each while the driver of the truck bagged 21 years and the motor boy/driver’s assistant 15 years in jail.
While Ndubuisi, Haruna and Saddam were sentenced to 10 years on each count charge, Bashir got seven years on each count charge and Usman 5 years on each count charge. The jail terms are to run concurrently.
