Court Jails Drug Baron 5 Years For Heroin Trafficking

Justice Tijjani Ringim of the Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced a drug courier, Felix Eshemokhai to a total of five years imprisonment for unlawful exportation of 1.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria.

Justice Ringim jailed Eshemokhai after he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful exportation of the illicit substance brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)

The prosecutor, Mrs. Juliana Iroabuchi had told the court that the convict was arrested with the banned substance by the operatives of the NDLEA on February 8, 2022, at the Departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos during the outward clearance of passenger on Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca Morocco.

Iroabuchi had also informed the court that the convict conspired with one Uche, who resides in Morocco and one Mike, both said to be at large, to commit the offence.

The prosecutor insisted that the offence violated sections 11(b) and 14(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The 47-year-old convict had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge when he was first arraigned before the court but decided to change his plea midway into the trial.

While reviewing the facts of the charge, the prosecutor, Mrs. Iroabuchi, tendered 13 exhibits.

Parts of the exhibits tendered by the prosecutor include the bulk of the banned substance, the convict’s travelling documents, his confessional statement and the results of a forensic test conducted on the banned drug, which was admitted by the court.

Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun on Thursday, presented a total budget proposal of N472, 250, 694, 447: 58 billion before the state’s House of Assembly (OGHA) for the year 2023 Fiscal financial year.

The budget, which is christened “Budget of Continued Development and Prosperity”, is expected to be largely funded through capital receipts which comprised internal, external loans, as well as Grants and Aids all estimated at N128. 37 billion.

The state’s Internal Revenue Service (OGIRS) is however, expected to generate a total sum of N90 Billion to finance the budget, while expectation from the statutory allocation from the federation account through the Federal Account

Allocation Committee (FAAC) is expected to contribute a total sum of N92 Billion to the budget.

The year 2023 budget proposal presented by the governor indicated that this year’s budget is N21. 7 Billion higher than that of the year 2022 budget proposal which stood at N459. 98 Billion.

Highlights of Abiodun’s year 2023 budget proposal however, indicated that capital projects, estimated at N270. 42 Billion will gulp the large chunk of the budget, while the state’s recurrent expenditure is estimated to gulp a total sum of N219. 84 Billion.

The governor declared that the year 2023 Appropriation Bill is expected to “achieve social cohesion that will continue to focus on equitable socioeconomic growth and development state-wide”.

Makoko and Ajegunle communities have raised the alarm over illegal dredging activities carried out on the continental shelf in their rivers, urging the Lagos State government to enforce the policy on dredging in the state.

Members of these communities who spoke with LEADERSHIP, at a workshop on Workers’ Health and Human Rights in Maritime Environment, organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Lagos, said the activities of the dredgers in their vicinity has hampered their fishing profession.

An elder in Makoko Community, Claudius Akintimeyi said most fishermen use canoe and paddle to catch fish at the continental shelf area, which is not far from the community, adding that, in recent time, there is no more fish in that area as the noise of the constant dredging activities has driven them away, to places where fishermen cannot paddle their canoe to.

“With the dredging, our fishermen barely catch fish worth N1,000 even when they hunt from evening till the next morning,” he explained.

The leader of the Nigerian Slum, Informal Settlements Federation (NSISF), Bimbo Osobe said the same situation is obtainable at Ajegunle Community in Ikorodu Local Government Area of the state, saying the unbridled dredging at the river bank is causing flooding at Ajegunle community.

Osobe said, “I know dredging is important to the development of a country, but dredging should not be done close to the river bank.

I am pleading with the Lagos State government to intervene, by ensuring that dredging should be done at the sea area and not the continental shelf.”