Freight Agent Jailed Five Years for Drug Trafficking

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State has convicted and sentenced a 55-year-old freight agent, Oyeyemi Sharafadeen, to five years imprisonment for exporting several banned substances.

Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke handed down the jail term after Sharafadeen pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful export of the banned substances preferred against him by the National Drug and Law Enforcement Agency.

During his arraignment, the NDLEA prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu, told the court that the convict was arrested on January 9, 2023, with the banned substances, which he planned to export to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Nwagu said the convict was arrested with 900 grammes of Tramadol 225mg, 100 grammes of Rohypnol and grammes of Ecstasy, which are all psychotropic substances similar to heroin and cocaine.

According to the prosecutor, the offence committed contravened Section 20(1)(a) and is punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The convict pleaded guilty to the charges.

Following his guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence him in accordance with Sections 247 of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act 2015.

He also urged the court to allow his agency to destroy the seized drugs at the expiration of the appeal period to the judgment.

But the convict’s lawyer, Uche Okoronkwo, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing his client.

Justice Aneke, in his judgment, sentenced the convict to five years imprisonment in each of the counts.

The judge, however, gave him an option of N5m, in lieu of the jail terms and also ordered him to perform a 100-day community service.

Justice Aneke also ordered that the confiscated drugs be destroyed if there was no appeal against the judgment after the period prescribed by the law.