A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos , has sentenced a drug trafficker, Freeman Charles Ogbonna, to 25 years of imprisonment without an option of fine.
The court presided over by
Justice Dipeolu Dehinde Isaac pronounced the sentence on Ogbonna on July 1 while delivering judgment in suit number FHCL/378/2024 brought before his court by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Ogbonna was convicted for attempting to smuggle illicit drug out of Nigeria, an offence that is contrary to section 20(1)(b) and punishable under section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act Cap N30 LFN 2004.
He was consequently arrested and prosecuted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The Director of Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the conviction of Ogbonna in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, July 2.
Babafemi said this is coming three months after Ogbonna vomited 80 wraps of cocaine following his arrest by operatives of the Agency at the screening point of terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos.
Ogbonna was arrested on Sunday 31st March while attempting to board his flight to Delhi, India via Doha on Qatar Airways, with a Liberian international passport, bearing the name: Carr Bismark.
He was taken for a body scan, which tested positive for ingestion of illicit drugs.
Babafemi said preliminary checks revealed his real identity as Freeman Charles Ogbonna and was subsequently placed under observation in NDLEA custody where he started to manifest signs of discomfort.
According to the statement, obviously choked by the volume of illicit drugs in his stomach and another substance taken to hold back excretion, the suspect soon began to retch before starting to vomit and excreted wraps of cocaine he ingested almost simultaneously.
“The suspect who claimed he was recruited into drug trafficking by one of his relatives eventually passed out a total of 80 wraps of cocaine weighing 889 grams through his mouth and anus over a period of four days.
“The great risk that almost took his life notwithstanding, Ogbonna said he was given the drugs to swallow at a hotel in the Ipodo area of Ikeja with a promise to reward him with N300,000 cash if he successfully delivered the consignment in India.
“He was subsequently arraigned before Justice Dipeolu Deinde Isaac of the Federal High Court, Lagos in charge number FHCL/378/2024 for committing an offence contrary to section 20(1)(b) and punishable under section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act Cap N30 LFN 2004,” he said.
In his reaction, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, retired Brig.- Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the MMIA Command and the prosecution team for the fast and diligent handling of the case.
He said the judiciary remains a strong pillar in the coordinated and concerted effort to curb the scourge of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria.
He said Ogbonna’s conviction will further send a strong signal to his ilk that there will be no hiding place for drug barons and their mules.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
