- Following her plea of guilt, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu handed down the judgment and also gave her an option of N100m fine.
One Adrienne Munju has been sentenced to eleven years imprisonment over possession of illicit substance.
Munju, 41, was convicted and sentenced by the
Federal High Court in Lagos State on Wednesday for importing 35.20 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud (Cannabis Sativa) into Nigeria.
She was arraigned by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on two counts charge which she pled guilty to during her arraignment and prosecution.
Following her plea of guilt, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu handed down the judgment and also gave her an option of N100m fine.
Earlier when the convict was arraigned, the NDLEA prosecutor, Mr Abu Ibrahim, told the court that Munju without lawful authority imported 35.20 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa, otherwise known as ‘Canadian Loud’, into Nigeria.
Ibrahim said the incident occurred on or about October 3, 2024, during the inward clearance of inbound passengers on the KLM flight at the ‘D’ Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
According to the prosecutor, the offence committed contravened Section 20(1), (a) and punishable under Section 20(2) (a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
However, Munju pleaded guilty to the charges against her.
Following her guilty plea, Ibrahim informed the court of the readiness of the prosecution to review the facts of the case and a prosecution witness was called in to give evidence and tender relevant exhibits.
The prosecutor after reviewing the facts of the case urged the court to convict Munju, as charged, based on the evidence placed before the court, and the exhibits tendered and her guilty plea.
Justice Dipeolu, on reviewing the facts of the case as submitted by Ibrahim, convicted Munju as charged.
In his allocutus before the court, the counsel for Munju, Benson Ndakara, leading Dennis Warri, Kate Igbo and others pleaded with the court to have mercy on the convict.
“We plead for leniency on behalf of the convict, my Lord.
The convict pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity by not wasting the precious time of the court and has been very remorseful,” he said.
Ndakara added that the convict had vowed never to toe the path of criminality again and to be more careful in the future if given a second chance.
Speaking on the aggravating factor leading to the crime, Ndakara said the convict was deceived into taking the high risk and urged the court to be lenient in sentencing her.
The convict’s counsel also pleaded with the court to impose an option of fine on the convict instead of the custodian sentence, adding that the convict had no relatives or acquaintances in Nigeria and had been abandoned by everyone.
After listening to the defence counsel’s allocutus, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Munju to six years imprisonment on count one and five years on count two or an option of N50m fine on each count.
Justice Dipeolu, however, ordered that both sentence and option of fine shall run concurrently.