A dealer in Indian hemp, popularly called marijuana, Saidu Sulaiman, has been convicted and sentenced to 13 years Imprisonment by Justice Tijjani Ringim of a Federal High Court in Lagos.

Sulaiman was convicted by the judge on Thursday after admitting dealing unlawfully in 85.4kg of the illicit drug which he smuggled into the country from Benin Republic.

The convict had earlier denied the allegation when he was initially arraigned in 2019 before Justice Chuka Obiozor on a 2-count charge bordering on the alleged offence.

However, following the transfer of Justice Obiozor to another jurisdisction of the court, the convict’s case file was taken over by Justice Ringim, before whom he was re-arraigned.

He however owned up to the offence upon his re-arraignment.

The development made the court to call on the prosecution to review the fact of the case and in doing so, the prosecutor, Olufemi Adebayo, told the court that the convict, a resident of New Garage, Alaba Rago in Ojo Local Government Area, Lagos State, was arrested on November 28, 2018, at Custom Checking point Gbaji, along Badagry-Seme Expressway, Badagry, with 85.4 Kilograms of Marijuana.

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He added that the convict conspired with one, Rabe, a.k.a. Confirm, now at Large, to smuggle the banned substance to the country from Cotonou.

After reviewing the fact of the charge, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant in accordance with the law.

In his judgment, Justice Ringim, after citing plethoras of judicial authorities, sentenced the convict to eight years on count one and five years on count two.

The judge, however, ordered that the jail terms should run concurrently.

The offences were said to have contravened Sections 14(b) and 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under same Sections.

TheStar