A businessman, Chibueze Oneigbo, has been convicted for trafficking in 2010 grammes of cocaine and jailed him for 10 years by Justice Musa Kurya of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday.
The judge said the sentence handed down to Oneigbo was in line with the recently issued sentencing guidelines for judges of the Federal High Court, adding that Oneigbo’s prison term would start counting from Monday.
The 38-year-old convict, who was arrested with the illicit substance at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos in April 2013, had since August 29, 2013 been arraigned before Kurya.
He had pleaded not guilty to the charge levelled against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and was granted a N5m bail with one surety in like sum.
But the NDLEA prosecutor, Mr. Linus Nor, had maintained that Oneigbo trafficked in the illicit drug, adding that he concealed the 210g of cocaine in a black leather bag before he was caught during the outward clearance of passengers on board a Qatar Airline flight.
Nor said Oneigbo violated Section 11 (b) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30 Laws of the Federation, 2004 and to prove his case, he called two witnesses.
In his judgment on Monday, Justice Kurya said he was satisfied that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge convicted Oneigbo as charged by the prosecution and sentenced him to a prison term of 10 years.
The judge held, “I have considered all the above, and I am of the view that the prosecution has discharged its burden of proof.
“I have listened to the plea for leniency by the accused, and have taken into consideration all that has been said. In any case, the court is duty-bound to sentence the accused having found him guilty.
“More so, the court is guided by the sentencing guideline recently released for Federal High court Judges. Consequently, I hereby sentence the accused to 10 years imprisonment, from the day of this judgment.
“The drug exhibits in custody of the NDLEA are to be destroyed within 30 days, if there is no appeal against this judgment.”