Court Jails Nigerian-Canadian Man 3 Years Smuggling 2.10 kg Of Cocaine
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Lagos Federal High Court, has convicted and sentenced a man with Nigeria with Canadian citizenship, Anigo Christian Godspower, to three years imprisonment for bringing into the country, 2.10 Kilograms of Cocaine, from his base, without lawful authority.
Justice Aneke convicted and sentenced the convict, after he pleaded to a count charge of unlawful importation of the said prohibited substance, by the men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) against him in a charge marked FHC/L/282c/2022, made against him by the NDLEA.
Godspower was arraigned before the court on Thursday on a count charge of unlawful importation of the banned substance. The offence according to the prosecutor, Mr. Augustine Nwagu, is contrary to and punishable under under Section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The Convict, had pleaded guilty to the charge, when it was read to him on Thursday, the development, which made the judge to adjourned till today for review of fact and sentence.
At the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, the prosecutor, Mr. Augustine Nwagu, told the court that th defendant was arrested with the banned drug on April 17, 2021, during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Doha at “D” arrival hall of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
To prove the charge against the defendant, the prosecutor, Mr. Nwagu, tendered the bulk of the seized drug, his statements, his Nigeria and Canadia passports and others, which were admitted as exhibits against the defendant.
Following the admissibility of the exhibits by the court, the prosecutor asked to convict and sentence the defendant in accordance to sections 11(a) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
The Convict’s counsel, Mr. Uche Okoronkwo of Minerva Legal Practice, who led Adedolapo Adaramodu, pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing his client, whom he described as a first time offender, adding that his client was and ignorant, as he was misled by a friend in Brazil, who gave him a parcel housing the drug.
Uche who told the court that his client is an estate developer in Canada, also told the court that the illegal act has have negative impact on his clients’ social and moral.
He therefore asked the court to be lenient in sentencing him. He however, urged the court to award an option of fine in lieu of the custodian sentence.
Responding, the prosecutor, Mr. Nwagu told the court that apart from sentencing the Convict as prescribed by NDLEA acts, his Nigeria and Canadia passports be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria and that the seized drug be destroyed within the period prescribed by the law, if there is no appeal against the judgment.
Delivering judgment on the charge, Justice Aneke sentenced the defendant to three years imprisonment from the day he was. Arrested.
The judge however gave the convict an option of N3 million fine.
