41-year-old man bags 30 months for drug peddling

Justice Ayokunle Faji of a Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday, sentenced a 41-year -old man, Wasiu Kareem to two and half years Imprisonment for unlawful dealing in 25 grammes of cocaine.

Justice Faji convicted and sentenced Kareem after he was found guilty of the offence brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The judge held that the prosecutor, Mr. Jeremiah Aernan had successfully proved the charge of unlawful dealing in hard drugs against the convict.

Before the judgment, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the charge against the convict, where in he called one witness and tendered his confessional statement and the seized drugs, which were admitted as exhibits by the court.

The judge, after listening to the review, admitted the exhibits tendered and pronounced the man “convicted as charged”.

Meanwhile, counsel to the convict, Bolanle Kolawole, in her allocutus, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing her client, as he is a first time offender. Kolawole told the court that her client has learnt his lesson and became remorseful since he was arrested on October 9, 2021.

Afterwards, Justice Faji sentenced the convict to two and a half years imprisonment without option of fine. The judge ordered that the convict’s jail terms should commence from October 9, 2021, when he was arrested.

The convict was arrested by NDLEA operatives at a place called Seaside in Idiaraba, Mushin, where he was peddling the banned substance. His offence, according to NDLEA, is contrary to and punishable under Section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.