Cocaine Pushers Sentenced To 20 Years Imprisonment

Justice Okechukwu Okeke of a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, on Friday sentenced two cocaine traffickers, Gabriel Obi and Godfrey Ugwu, to 20 years imprisonment each, over illicit drug deals in Lagos.

Justice Okeke held that the prosecution had discharged its burden of proof by proving its case beyond reasonable doubt.

“I do not believe the testimonies of the accused, when they alleged that they were business associates.

“The accused did not lead any evidence to substantiate the claims that they were actually partners doing genuine business.

“The accused are hereby convicted as charged.

“On count one, the accused are sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, while on counts two they are sentenced to five years imprisonment.

“The terms of imprisonment are to run concurrently,” Okeke ruled.

He added that the sentence of the first convict, Obi, would start running from the date of conviction, while he ordered the sentence of Ugwu to start running from March 3, 2011 when they were first arraigned.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arraigned the convicts, on a two-count charge of unlawful importation of 165 Kilogrammes of Cocaine from Bolivia into Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Agency arraigned the convicts on March 3, 2011, before the court.

They were arrested at the Murtala Mohammed Airport by the NDLEA, in January 2011, during clearance of passengers and the drugs recovered from them.