A 40-year old female socialite, Monsurat Garuba and her counterpart, Mr. Nwuzor Simon, have been sentenced to five years and three years imprisonment respectively for dealing on hard drugs in Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which convicted the duo for trafficking in hard drugs.
The convicts were charged separately by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), before Justice Akintayo Aluko, for the offences and they pleaded guilty to the charges made against them by the NDLEA.
The convicted woman was arraigned on a three count-charge of dealing in 2.8 Kilogrames of Cannabis Sativa, 0.2Litres of Codeine and 0.014kilogrammes of Rophynol.
While the convicted man, Nwuzor Simon, a resident of 6 Adeniko Street, Bariga, Lagos, was arraigned on a count-charge of procuring one Nwafor Chimezie Innocent, to export 2.10 kilograms of Methamphetamine.
The prosecutors, N. J. Mamza and Abu Abu Ibrahim, told the Court that the convicted woman was arrested with the prohibited drugs on 5th April, 2023, at Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, while the convicted man was arrested on March 17, 2023.
The prosecutors told the Court that the offences committed by the convicts, contravened Sections 11(c) and 21 (2)(d) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ACT Cap N.30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under Section 11(b) of the same Act.
With their guilty pleas, the prosecutors presented the facts before the Court, tendered exhibits and urged the Court to sentence the convicts in accordance with the sections of the laws they were charged with.
However, lawyers to the convicts, Mrs. Bolanle Kolawole and Dennis Warri, pleaded with the Court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing their clients.
The two lawyers cited plethora of authorities to support their pleas.
Justice Aluko, in his judgment, sentenced the woman to a total of five years imprisonment, while the convicted man was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
The judge however, ordered the two convicts to pay the sum of N500, 000 and N300, 000, respectively in lieu of the jail-term.
The judge also ordered the convicts to perform two weeks community at Eti-Osa Local Government and Murtala Muhammed International Airport Ikeja, Lagos respectively.
Justice Aluko also ordered the NDLEA to destroy the drug exhibits recovered from the convicts, if there is no appeal against the judgment.
They were remanded in custody at the Correctional Centre at Ikoyi, Lagos, where they will spend their jail terms if they fail to pay the fine option ruled by the Court for their release.