ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted four persons over drug trafficking.
The suspects are Okechukwu Umeh, Lanre Adebayo, Adigun Adeshina and Emmanuel Omijeh.
On the day of their arrest, they forfeited the Federal Government of Nigeria the bus they used in conveying 532.8Kg of the Loud variant of cannabis and the N3m bribe they offered operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA).
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday.
According to Babafemi, the convicts were arraigned on three counts in charge number FHC/L/87c/2023, and that the trial judge, Justice Akintayo Aluko, on Thursday, 16 March convicted and sentenced each of them to five years on count one; and seven years each on counts two and three.
The NDLEA spokesperson said: “While the judge ruled that the sentences should run concurrently, he also gave the four convicts the option of paying N20m in place of the jail terms.
“This is in addition to granting the application by the NDLEA for the final forfeiture of a white colour Ford bus with number plate PHC 315 ZT, used in conveying 532. 8kg of the Loud variant of cannabis on the day of their arrest, Sunday, January 22, 2023, along Lagos- Ibadan Expressway.
“The court also granted the final forfeiture of N3m offered as a bribe by the convicts to NDLEA officers.
“The drugs concealed with ‘take away’ food packs in 19 big cartons were seized in the white Ford bus heading to Port Harcourt, Rivers State along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at 2.35am on Sunday, January 22.”