Justice Mohammed Garba of the Federal High Court in Kaduna sentenced two men, Yusuf Garba and Dauda Musa, to five years imprisonment each for trafficking in illicit drugs on Thursday.
Justice Garba sentenced the defendants after they pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies( NDLEA).
However, the convicts were each given a N500,000 fine option.
Reviewing the facts of the case, NDLEA’s counsel, T. J. Atserhegh, told the court that the convicts were arrested at Rigachikun, Kaduna, while transporting 60kg of cannabis sativa.
The offence he said contravened Section 11 (c) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Atserhegh produced before the court the certificate of analysis of the drug, the drug analysis report, defendants’ statements and cannabis tendered and admitted as exhibits.
After listening to the facts as reviewed by the prosecution, the judge convicted the defendants as charged.
In his plea for mercy, the defence counsel, Hassan Umar, prayed the court to be lenient in sentencing the convicts.
He submitted that the convicts have shown remorse and did not waste the time of the court.
