A 44-year-old man, Olalowo Olatunji, was on Tuesday convicted and sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos for unlawful dealing in cocaine and Cannabis sativa, popularly known as Indian hemp or marijuana.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa convicted and sentenced Olatunji after he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge filed against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
The NDLEA prosecuting counsel, Peter Ekuri, told the court that the convict was arrested on March 8, 2026, at Victoria Island, Lagos, while hawking 89 grams of cocaine and 20 grams of cannabis sativa.
Ekuri told the court that the offences contravened Section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
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Upon arraignment, Olatunji admitted to committing the offences and pleaded guilty to both counts.
Following his plea, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.
Addressing the court in his allocutus, defence counsel, Uche Okoronkwo, pleaded for leniency, describing his client as a first-time offender. “My lord, Olatunji is a first-time offender and has not wasted the precious time of this honourable court. We urge the court to temper justice with mercy,” he said.
Okoronkwo further urged the court to consider a non-custodial sentence or an option of fine in place of imprisonment.
In his judgment, Justice Lewis-Allagoa held that the convict deserved some measure of mercy, noting that he was a first-time offender and that the quantity of drugs involved was relatively small.
“The convict is a first-time offender, and the quantity of narcotics recovered from him is not substantial enough to warrant the maximum punishment,” the judge held.
The court subsequently sentenced Olatunji to 12 months’ imprisonment on each of the two counts, with an option of a N1m fine on each count, totalling N2m.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa further ordered that both the prison terms and the fine options should run concurrently.
Punch/ Samuel Olokoba
