A 49-year-old man, Ariyibi Ahmed Olaseinde, was on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment for attempting to illegally export 11.5 kilograms of Cocaine to Saudi Arabia.
The convict was sent to jail by a Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, presided over by Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke after he pleaded guilty to the two counts charge of conspiracy and illegal export of the drug made against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to the prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu, the convict was arrested with the drug on February 20, 2023, at the Screening Hall of Terminal 11 of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, during the outward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight to Medina, Saudi Arabia via Doha.
Nwagu told the judge that the convict conspired with one Jeleel Badmus, now at large, to commit the crime.
The prosecutor further informed the Federal High Court that the convicted Olaseinde, while the investigation lasted, revealed that he was commissioned by Badmus (now at large) to traffic the banned substance on the promise of being paid $1,500 and that he had been paid $300 as part of the money promised.
Nwagu thereafter insisted that the offence contravenes the provision of Sections 14(b) and 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Meanwhile, as a result of the guilty plea position of the convicted drug peddler, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the crime, as well as tendered several exhibits which were admitted by the court.
Among the exhibits tendered by the prosecutor includes the seized drug, his two confessional statements and his two ECOWAS/Nigeria International passports together with $300.
Nwagu urged the judge to convict and sentence Olaseinde according to the sections of the NDLEA Act he was charged with.
In his judgment, Justice Aneke sentenced the convict to five years imprisonment, with an addition that Olaseinde should pay the sum of N5 million in lieu of the jail term.
The judge also ordered the convict to perform 150 hours of community service in addition to the option of a fine.
Justice Aneke also held that the two travelling passports and the sum of $300 be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).
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