Man, 35, to spend 6 years in correctional facility for trafficking 13.4kg of cannabis

A Federal High Court in Ibadan has sentenced one David Usman, 35, to six years in the correctional centre for trafficking 13.4kg of marijuana.

Delivering judgment, Justice E.U. Akpan said that the conviction and sentence of Usman was based on the evidence tendered by the prosecution and the convict’s guilty plea to the charge.

Akpan said that the full weight of the law would have been applied on the convict, but for the fact that he was a first-time offender.

“I hope that the convict will use the second opportunity he has been given never to participate in any act of criminality again.

“However, to serve as a deterrent to others, Usman is sentenced to six years in prison, and the sentencing starts from the date he was first arrested.

“All the exhibits found in possession of the convict are forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the cannabis (marijuana) should all be destroyed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,” Akpan said.

Earlier, Counsel to the NDLEA, Mr Daniel Otunla, had told the court that Usman was arraigned on a-count charge bordering on unlawful dealing in narcotics.

Otunla informed the court that the convict committed the crime on Aug. 18, 2023, on the Lagos-Ibadan Express road.

The prosecutor stated that NDLEA operatives apprehended Usman with a white sack containing 13.4kg of cannabis inside a vehicle traveling from Lagos to Ibadan.

According to him, the offence contravened section 11(C) of the NDLEA Act Cap N30 Law of the Federation 2004.