Deaf man, guard jailed 10 years for selling hemp, cocaine

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State, has sentenced a deaf and dump man and a security guard to five years imprisonment each for selling Indian hemp and cocaine.

A statement from the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), signed by the agency’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr Ofoyeju Mitchell, said.

The deaf and dumb man, Abbas Ahmed, 23, was arrested by the police on February 5, 2014 along Agege motor park road, Lagos while dealing in cannabis, a narcotic drug similar to cocaine contrary to and punishable under Section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2001.

After a protracted trial which led to engagement of the services of an interpreter by the court to communicate with him, Abbas recently pleaded guilty as charged, and the prosecuting counsel, Barrister Jeremiah Aernan, asked to court to apply the punishment prescribed by the law.

The other convict, Adebowale Michael, 22, a security guard was arrested with four pinches of cocaine weighing 0.7 grams at Oniru Estate, Lekki Ajah Lagos by patriotic youths in February 2017.

The convict was first handed over to the police and later transferred to the NDLEA where he was charged to court for unlawful dealing in cocaine contrary to and punishable under the NDLEA Act.

Both convicts pleaded with court to temper justice with mercy, considering their ages and for being first offenders.

The presiding judge, Justice Rilwan Aikawa, in his ruling, said cocaine trafficking was an international crime that had smeared the reputation of the country and must be seriously dealt with. He therefore sentenced each convict to five years in jail.

The NDLEA Chairman, retired Col Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah, commended the youths that arrested Adebowale, and urged of the public not to fold their hands while drug traffickers were making the society unsafe and insecure.