Story By Gbenga Ogunbufunmi

 A Federal High Court sitting in  Lagos  has ordered the remand of one Sunday Oluwafemi and Kouboura Salou, both citizens of the Republic of Benin till December 2, 2020, when their bail application will be heard and determined.

The two defendants were charged before the court for allegedly smuggling cocaine into Nigeria, .

Both Sunday and Kouboura, residents of Ayelewaje village, Benin, were arraigned before Justice Nicholas Oweibo  by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on two counts charge of conspiracy and unlawful possession of 2.5 kilograms of Cocaine.

NDLEA in the charge  alleged that  the two defendants alongside their Nigerians counterparts, who are now at large, smuggled the said drug into Nigeria through Owode-Apa village, Badagry, Lagos, on September 2 and 14, 2020.

The Nigerians listed to be at large are: Adebayo Afolabi and Idowu Austin

The offences according to the prosecution are contrary to punishable under section 14(b) and 19 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The defendants however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Upon their not guilty plea, the Prosecutor, Mr. Aliyu Abubakar, asked the court for a trial date, and also urged the court to remand the defendants, till the conclusion of the charge.

However, the defendants’ counsel, O. Okenyin, while not oppose to the trial date as requested by the prosecutor, however asked the court for a date to hear his clients’ bail applications.

Justice Oweibo, in his ruling, ordered that the defendants be remanded till December 2, when their bail application will be heard.