Nigerian couple given two years in jail for drug trafficking

Mr. and Mrs. Ikechukwu Okafor were sentenced to two years in prison by a Federal High Court in Lagos for illegally dealing in 19.12 kg of Methamphetamine, a forbidden narcotic.

Okafor and his wife, Ifeyinwa, of Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos State, were convicted on Wednesday by Justice Nicholas Oweibo.

The pair pleaded guilty to the offense before the judge handed down the sentence.

The defendants were arraigned on five counts of conspiracy, illegal dealing, and unlawful possession of an illicit substance, all of which were preferred against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

Mr. A. G. Yaunyam, the prosecutor, stated that the couple committed the offenses on October 5, 2023, at their Ago-Palace Way property in Okota, Lagos.

He informed the court that the offenses were in violation of sections 14, 19, and 11(c) of the NDLEA Act Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Following the couple’s guilty plea, the prosecutor requested that the court sentence them in accordance with the sections of the NDLEA Act with which they were charged.

Benson Ndakara, the defense counsel, begged with the court to be kind with his clients and to balance justice with mercy while sentencing them. He stated that they were first-time offenders with no prior convictions.

As a result, he urged the court to impose a non-custodial term or a fine on his clients.

Delivering judgment, Oweibo sentenced the couple to 24 months imprisonment. The judge, however, ordered each of the convicts to pay the sum of N300,000, as a fine option on each of the counts, totalling N1.5m each.