A Federal high court in Ikoyi has sentenced a nursing mother, Adeoye Oluwakemi Fatimoh, to six years imprisonment for trafficking hard substances.
Adeoye was sentenced by Justice Tijjani Ringim after she pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful export of 1.10 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa popularly called marijuana and 17 grams of Rohypnol, a Psychotropic Substance,
While the convict was being arraigned, the NDLEA counsel, Abu Ibrahim, informed the judge that she was apprehended with the prohibited drug, on November 18, 2022, which she wanted to export to Oman, at Gate ‘C’ of the Departure Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja-Lagos, during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight.
The NDLEA lawyer also informed the court that the offenses committed by the convict contravened Section 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
As a result of her guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence her in accordance with the Sections of the NDLEA act she was charged with. In her plea for mercy, the convict told the court that if given a second chance, she will not engage in any form of crime.
The convict’s lawyer, Chief Lilian Omotunde, told the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing her client adding that the court should consider the timely guilty plea of the convict, whom she described as a first-time offender who did not have a previous conviction record. Omotunde further asked the court to consider an award of fine in lieu of custodial sentencing.
In his decision, Justice Ringim sentenced the convict to three years imprisonment on each of the counts While ordering that the jail term is to run consecutively, with an option of a fine of N500, 000, only.
