A businessman, Ifenna Emmanuel, was on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State.
The president of the court, Justice John Tsoho, handed down the sentence to Emmanuel after he was found of a one-count charge brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The agency prosecutor, Oigoga Ichakpa, had told the court that the offence was contrary to Section 11 (b) of the NDLEA Act of 2004.
Ichakpa had also told the court that the convict was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on July 1, 2012 during outward clearance of passengers to China.
But after the convict was arraigned on December 18, 2012, he jumped bail, and refused to attend trial for about a year until he was re-arrested in Port Harcourt through the help of his brother who stood surety for him.
Justice Tsoho ruled that the $1,000 recovered from the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government should there be no appeal against the judgment within 90 days.
Tsoho also directed that Emmanuel’s passport should be withdrawn and that all drugs recovered from him must be destroyed if the judgment is not appealed.
The court also faulted a medical report that tendered by the lawyer to the convict to show that the convict was seriously ill and was suffering from severe abdominal pain.
