A 27-year-old man identified as Stanley Chukwudi has been sentenced to 3yrs imprisonment for unlawful trafficking of Cannabis Sativa, popularly called marijuana.
The convict was arrested with the banned weed, by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on April 6, 2022, at Iddo Motor Park, in Oyingbo area.
According to the prosecutor, Mahmud Erondu, who arraigned him before the court, his offense contravened Section 11 (b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. and punishable under the same Act.
The convict had pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him. And the prosecutor had urged the court to Convict and sentence him in accordance with the section of the law he was charged.
But his lawyer, Mrs. Bolanle Kolawole, pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing him, saying that her client was a first-time convict, who never wasted the precious time of the court.
She told the court that her client is suffering from a serious ailment, which if given a custodian sentence may not have adequate medical treatment.
She, therefore, pleaded with the court to consider the option of a fine in lieu of the custodian sentence.
Responding, the prosecutor confirmed to the court that the convict has no previous record of conviction.
Following the submissions of counsel, Justice Akintayo Aluko, after citing several plethoras of authorities, sentenced the convict to three years imprisonment.
The judge also ordered that the convict shall perform community service for two hours each in two weeks, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport command of the NDLEA.
However, the judge ordered the convict to pay the sum of N400,000, fine in lieu of the custodian sentence.