Kaduna court jails labourer four years for selling marijuana

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A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna, on Thursday, sentenced a labourer, Adam Shola, to four years imprisonment for selling cannabis, popularly called marijuana.

Justice Garba Mohammed convicted and sentenced the culprit after he pleaded guilty to the offence.

When the charge was read to him, he pleaded guilty and begged the court for leniency in sentencing him.

In his judgment, Justice Mohammed held that he was satisfied with the prosecutor’s evidence.

“The court is convinced beyond reasonable doubt going by the weight of the evidence adduced before me. I, therefore, pronounce the defendant guilty and convict him summarily.

“The convict is hereby sentenced to four years imprisonment beginning from May 5 when he was arrested,” the judge held.

The Mohammed also ordered the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency to destroy the drugs after 90 days if the convict does not appeal the judgment.

Earlier, the NDLEA Counsel, T. I. Atserhegh, told the court that the defendant was arrested on May 5 at Kawo Bus Stop in Kaduna, while selling the drugs.

He said the NDLEA operatives recovered 5kg of cannabis sativa “a narcotic drug similar to cocaine, heroin and LSD from Sola.

The offence, he informed, is punishable under Section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap 30, LFN 2004.

The prosecutor tendered a transparent envelope containing remnants of the drug and urged the court to convict the defendant based on his plea and the evidence.