Court remands 72-year-old for dealing in marijuana

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the prison remand of a 72-year-old man, Samuel Akhigbe, who allegedly dealt in 3.3 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa without lawful authorisation.

 

Akhigbe’s remand followed his arraignment before Justice Saliu Saidu on one count of the offence.

 

The accused, who claimed to be a tuberculosis patient, promptly pleaded guilty to the charge.

 

The NDLEA prosecutor, Jeremiah Aernan, had told the judge that the septuagenarian was arrested on November 9, 2015 in the Ipaja area of Lagos State.

 

The offence, Aernan said, was contrary to Section 11 (c) of the NDLEA Act, 2004.

 

Following Akhigbe’s guilty plea, the prosecutor said, “My Lord, in view of the guilty plea of the accused, we shall be asking for a date to review the facts of the case.”

 

Justice Saidu subsequently adjourned further hearing till March 12, 2016.

 

Meanwhile, the court admitted four alleged drug traffickers to bail.

Among the accused was a woman, Juliet Gabriel, and three men –  Okwuma Michael, Kelechukwu Eletamuzor and James Nwajagu.

 

Justice Saidu admitted them to bail following their separate arraignments by the NDLEA.

 

The prosecution counsel, Fingere Dinneys, Gabriel was arrested on November 15, 2015 with 2.9kg of cocaine during the inward clearance of Emirate Airline from Dubai at the ‘E’ Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

 

Michael was accused of attempting to import 3.4kg of cocaine into the country, before he was arrested on October 27, 2015 during the inward clearance of South African Airways flight from Brazil at the ‘E’ Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.

 

The prosecutor claimed that Eletamuzor was caught in possession of 1kg of Ephedrine on November 7, 2015 at Sahcol Warehouse, a Customs area at the same airport.

 

Nwajagu was said to have been arrested with 3.2kg of cocaine on October 13, 2015 during an inward clearance of Emirate Airline from Dubai at the ‘E’ Hall of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

 

The four accused, however, pleaded not guilty to their separate charges.

 

The judge subsequently granted bails to Gabriel, Michael, Eletamuzor, and Nwajagu in the sum of N12m, N15m, N10m and N15m respectively.

 

The accused were directed to provide two sureties each in like sum.

 

The judge adjourned their trials till March 7, 8 and 12, 2016.