Nine Ghanaians Get Eight Years In Jail For Attempting To Smuggle Cannabis Into Nigeria – NDLEA

The Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced nine Ghanaians to eight years imprisonment each for “attempting” to smuggle cannabis into Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement released on Sunday by the spokesperson of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Femi Babafemi.

Babafemi stated that the convicts had attempted to smuggle 10,843.95 kilogrammes of cannabis into Nigeria “through the sea.”

He identified them as Victor Wuddah, Freeman Gazul, Adotete Joseph, Sottie Moses, Sottie Stephen, Christian Tette, Kanu Okonipa, Daniel Koyepti. and Kanu Natte.

The NDLEA spokesperson said the convicts, who were sentenced on Friday, were earlier arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

“They were initially arrested by men of the Civil Defence Corps and transferred to NDLEA for further investigation and prosecution,” the statement said.

“At the conclusion of investigations, they were arraigned in charge number FHC/L/292C/2021.

“Delivering his ruling in the matter on Friday, Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court, Lagos, convicted the Ghanaians of conspiracy and dealing in cannabis.”

In related developments, Babafemi disclosed that NDLEA operatives made various arrests in operations across the country.

The NSCDC spokesperson named the states as Yobe, Ondo, Edo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Jigawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

On Saturday, operatives raided a “large cannabis warehouse” in Chukuku, which is about 10 kilometres away from Gwagwalada, FCT, and arrested one Saadatu Abdullahi, a 35-year-old nursing mother, who was alleged to be in charge of the facility, according to Babafemi.

He said the men of the NDLEA recovered “510 jumbo bags of the illicit substance weighing 5, 640kgs” from the store.

In Yobe, the NDLEA spokesperson said operatives intercepted 48kgs of cannabis in Buni Yadi, and also busted a location where they recovered 56 blocks (31kgs) of Potiskum from two suspects — Mohammed Mamuda and Hauwa Haruna, a pregnant woman.

Likewise, the agency’s operatives seized 99 bags of cannabis and “three bags of its seeds weighing 1,286kgs” on Thursday when they raided a location in the Ogbese area of Ondo State.