The judge decided after finding Chinedu guilty of the charge instituted against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Justice Kakaki also convicted his accomplice, Hunkarin Segun George, an ex-international footballer, to two years' imprisonment for conspiracy and unlawful importation of 800 grams of cocaine.
Specifically, Chinedu was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment on a charge of unlawful importation of 6.250 kg of cocaine, and two years for conspiring with George to import 800 grams of the illicit drug.
According to the judge, both sentences are to run concurrently without an option of a fine.
It would be recalled that Chinedu was first arraigned in September 2015 before Justice Salihu Saidu (now retired) on a one-count charge designated FHC/L/227c/2015 for importing 6.250kg of cocaine. But he pleaded not guilty and was granted bail.
However, he jumped bail and absconded until he was re-arrested on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, during inward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa, with 800 grams of cocaine.
Consequent upon his arrest, he was re-arraigned alongside his co-conspirator, Hunkarin Segun George, on a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful importation.
During the resumption of trial on the matter, the counsel for the convicts, Chief Benson Ndakara and Chief Emefo Etudo for George, informed the court that their clients intended to change their earlier not guilty plea. Their pleas were subsequently retaken.
While reviewing the facts of the case, the counsel for the prosecution, Adekunle Adebajo, told the court how Chinedu had disappeared into thin air in 2015 after being admitted to bail.
Adebajo referenced several legal authorities and urged the court to sentence the convicts in accordance with the NDLEA Act.
But the lawyer for the convicts begged for leniency and prayed the court to impose a fine in place of a custodial sentence.
In handing down his judgment, Justice Kakaki, after considering the submissions of parties, authorities cited and exhibits tendered, sentenced the drug baron to 20 years imprisonment on the first count and two years each for both convicts on the second count, without option of fine.
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