Nigerian couple sentenced to two years in jail for drug trafficking

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has sentenced Mr. and Mrs. Ikechukwu Okafor to two years imprisonment for unlawfully dealing in 19.12 kilograms of Methamphetamine, a prohibited drug.

Justice Nicholas Oweibo on Wednesday, convicted Okafor and his wife, Ifeyinwa who reside at Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos State.

Before the sentence was handed down by the judge, the couple pleaded guilty to the offence.

The convicts were arraigned on five counts of conspiracy, unlawful dealing, and unlawful possession of the banned drug, preferred against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

The prosecutor, Mr. A. G. Yaunyam said the couple committed the crimes on October 5, 2023, at their Ago-Palace Way residence, Okota, Lagos.

He told the court that the offences contravened sections 14, 19, and 11(c) of the NDLEA Act Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Following the couple’s guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to sentence them in accordance with the sections of the NDLEA Act they were charged with.

However, the defence lawyer, Benson Ndakara, pleaded with the court to be lenient with his clients and to temper justice with mercy in sentencing them. He said they were first-time convicts, who did not have previous conviction records.

He therefore urged the court to give his clients a non-custodian sentence or a fine option.

Delivering judgment, Oweibo sentenced the couple to 24 months imprisonment. The judge, however, ordered each of the convicts to pay the sum of N300m, as a fine option on each of the counts, totalling N1.5m each.