Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos has convicted and sentenced a Nigerian with Canadian citizenship, Anigo Christian Godspower, to three years imprisonment for illegally importing 2.10 Kilograms of Cocaine into the country from Brazil.
Godspower said to be into the business of estate development in Canada was said to have travelled from his base in Canada to Brazil from where brought the banned substance into Nigeria.
Justice Aneke sentenced the convict, after he pleaded guilty to a count charge of unlawful importation of the said prohibited substance, filed against him by men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in a charge number FHC/L/282c/2022.
Godspower was arraigned before the court on Thursday on one count charge of unlawful importation of Cocaine . The offence according to the prosecutor, Mr. Augustine Nwagu, is contrary to and punishable under under Section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The Convict after listening to the charge pleaded guilty to the charge
At the resumed hearing of the matter Monday the prosecutor, Mr. Augustine Nwagu, told the court that th defendant was arrested with the Cocaine on April 17, 2021, during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Doha at “D” arrival hall of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
To prove the charge against the defendant, the prosecutor tendered the bulk of the seized cocaine , his statements, his Nigerian and Canadian passports and others, which were admitted as exhibits against the defendant.
Following the admissibility of the exhibits by the court, the prosecutor asked the court to convict and sentence the defendant in accordance with sections 11(a) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
The Convict’s counsel, Mr. Uche Okoronkwo of Minerva Legal Practice, who led Adedolapo Adaramodu, pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing his client, whom he described as a first time offender, adding that his client was and ignorant, as he was misled by a friend in Brazil, who gave him a parcel housing the drug.
Uche who told the court that his client is an estate developer in Canada, also told the court that the illegal act has had negative impact on his clients’ social and morals.
He therefore asked the court to be lenient in sentencing him. He also pleaded for an option of fine in lieu of custodian sentence.
Responding, the prosecutor, Mr. Nwagu told the court that apart from sentencing the Convict as prescribed by NDLEA acts, his Nigeria and Canadia passports be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria and that the seized drug be destroyed within the period prescribed by the law, if there is no appeal against the judgment.
Delivering judgment on the charge, Justice Aneke sentenced the defendant to three years imprisonment from the day he was. Arrested.
The judge however gave the convict an option of N3 million fine.
