A major drug dealer, Mike Omoarukhe, his manager and three other workers on his cannabis farms have been sentenced to 75 years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Benin, the Edo State capital.
The convicts were arraigned in July by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on a five-count charge with number FHC/B/107c/2021, bordering on possession of 183.5 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa, conspiracy to possess, cultivate and cultivation of 22 hectares of cannabis farms.
Delivering his judgement on Thursday, October, 14, 2021, Justice A.C. Obiozor sitting in Court 2 of the Federal High Court, Benin Judicial Division, sentenced the defendants to 15 years on each of the five counts, bringing the total years of imprisonment to 75 years.
But the sentence would run concurrently.
The judge however gave the convicts an option of N700,000 as fine on all the counts.
Meanwhile, Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has directed that an immediate appeal be filed at the appellate court against the option of N700,000 fine granted the convicts by the trial judge.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said that NDLEA operatives had on July 1 stormed the Ughieudu forest, Uhunwonde LGA of Edo State, where six persons identified as Elijah John, Friday Emma, Itoro Emmanuel, Daniel Emmanuel, Udom Etok and Abraham Monday Thompson were arrested with 50kg cannabis.
A follow-up operation in the Ughieudu forest on July 3 led to the arrest of Emmanuel Ekpeyoung and the total destruction of three cannabis farms, with a combined size of 22.210421 hectares and seizure of 133.5kg cannabis.
It was further learnt that after weeks of manhunt for the owner of the farms, 36-year-old Omoarukhe was later arrested at a drink joint in Irrua, after which they were all charged to court, except two of them, Udom Etok and Abraham Monday Thompson, who were discovered to be minors.
Meanwhile, the anti-narcotic agency has filed a notice of appeal against the judgement of a Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice D.E. Osiagor who sentenced two defendants, Clement Ajayi and Bolaji Fajebe, to three years imprisonment or a fine of N3,000 and two years imprisonment or a fine of N2,000 respectively on the two counts charge of conspiracy and dealing in illicit drugs filed against them in charge number FHC/L/199C/2021.
In a three-ground notice of appeal dated October 15, signed by NDLEA’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Mr. Joseph Sunday, and filed at the Lagos Division of the court, the Agency contended that the October 8 judgement by Justice Osiagor of giving the two convicts options of N3,000 and N2,000 fine is ridiculous, unwarrantable, unjustifiable and contrary to public interest.
It was further submitted that the trial judge did not provide any reason for awarding the penalty, which is contrary to Section 14 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 LFN 2004 which prescribes a penalty of not less than 15 years and not exceeding 25 years of imprisonment for the offence.
