By Bola Bamigbola
A man caught with 1,010 capsules of tramadol in Osun State, Nwoke Ifeanyi, was on Monday sentenced to two years jail term by a Federal High Court, sitting in Osogbo.
The illicit drug Ifeanyi had in his possession at the time he was caught along Gbongan/Ibadan Expressway was said to be weighing up to 600 grams.
The defendant was arraigned by the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency on May 15, and he pleaded guilty to the charge bothering on illegal possession of illicit drugs.
The judge, Justice Mashkur Salisu, had adjourned till Monday to deliver judgment on the matter.
During the trial, the prosecutor from the NDLEA, Olufemi Ijimakin, informed the court that Ifeanyi had in his possession 1,010 capsules weighing 600 grams of tramadol when he was apprehended.
According to him, the offence committed was contrary to the provision of Section 19 of the NDLEA Act, 2004.
In his allocation, before the judge would deliver judgment on the matter, defence counsel, Mr. Alfred Adegoke, urged the court to tamper justice with mercy.
Adegoke said his client was a first-time offender and assured that Ifeanyi would not engage in such act sagain if treated with leniency.
Delivering his judgement, Justice Salisu, found the defendant guilty as charged, relying on admittance by him before the court and the statement he wrote during interrogation by the NDLEA.
The Judge said the offence committed by the defendant attracts a minimum of 15-year jail term, but since he admitted committing the crime, Salisu sentenced him to 2 years imprisonment.
The jail term, the judge said, would count from April 4, when the defendant was arrested.
NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, January 21, 2024, said the agency had arrested the suspected owner of a consignment of tramadol concealed in a bottle of dietary supplements, which caused a furore at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja. (Punch)
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