Six drug traffickers have been sentenced to a total of 156 years imprisonment for offences bordering on drug dealing, transportation, and conspiracy to transport illicit substances.
The convicts were sentenced by the Federal High Courts sitting in Lagos and Ogun states, respectively, following two separate charges filed against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Worse hit is a 27-year-old drug dealer, Ahmed Abdulsabur, arrested in 2022 by NDLEA operatives and prosecuted in charge number FHC/AB/20C/2022 at the Federal High Court, Abeokuta.
Trial judge, Â Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik, in her judgment on the six counts charge brought against Ahmed, convicted and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment on each count, bringing the total number of his jail term to 60.
Justice Abdulmalik also sentenced another dealer, Olumide Elegbede, 32, to 20 years jail term; 10 years for each of the two counts brought against him in charge number: FHC/AB/128C/2I. Â The judge ruled that the years in both cases run concurrently.
Similarly, at the Federal High Court,  Lagos, where the quartet of Okechukwu Umeh, Lanre Adebayo, Adigun Adeshina and Emmanuel Omijeh were arraigned on three counts in charge number FHC/L/87c/2023, the trial judge,  Akintayo Aluko on Thursday  March 16,  convicted and sentenced each of them to five years on count one; seven years each on counts two and three; thereby bringing the total number of years for each of them to 19 years and the four of them to 76 years imprisonment.
In the ruling, the judge said the sentences would run concurrently.
Justice Aluko gave the convicts an option of paying N20 million in lieu of the jail terms.
The judge also granted NDLEA’s application for final forfeiture of a white colour Ford bus with registration number: PHC 315 ZT, used in conveying 532. 8 kilogrammes of Loud variant of cannabis on the day of their arrest, Sunday, January 22, 2023, along Lagos- Ibadan expressway, as well as the final forfeiture of N3million offered as 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 Lagos-Ibadan expressway at about 2:35a.m. when it was intercepted.
The convicts: Okechukwu Umen, 41; Lanre Adebayo Ismaila, 47; Adeshina Adigun Fatai, 50; and Emmanuel Omijeh, 42, were arrested in connection with the seizure and N3million offered as bribe kept as part of the exhibits for their prosecution.
