Drug Trafficking : Mechanic Bags Six Months Imprisonment

A Federal High Court
sitting in Lagos, last Wednesday sentenced a 28-year-old mechanic to six months imprisonment for trafficking in a narcotic drug.
Yusuf Shodimu had pleaded guilty to a charge of drug trafficking on arraignment.
Our correspondent reports that the facts of the case were reviewed by an officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Abdul Yusuf.
Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Mr Jeremiah Ainan, he told the court that he was the investigating police officer.
Yusuf said that Shodimu was caught by the NDLEA patrol team on Jan. 22, 2013 with the substance, at Sabo Market in Ikorodu area of Lagos.
He said that during investigation, the convict made a confessional statement and the substance, which weighed 300 grammes, tested positive to Indian hemp during forensic analysis.
The prosecutor tendered the certificate of test analysis, confessional statement of the convict and the evidence of the narcotic drug as exhibits.
Our correspondent reports that the exhibits were admitted as evidence by the court.
The counsel to Shodimu, Mrs Lilian Omotunde, urged the court to be lenient with the convict.
She said that the convict was a mechanic with a wife and two children who depended on him for a living.
According to her, the convict is a first offender and has been in detention for a long time.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke sentenced Shodimu to six months imprisonment and ordered that the sentence should take effect from the date of arrest.
He also ordered that the drug be destroyed 30 days from now, if there was no appeal on the conviction.
Our correspondent reports that the convict was arraigned on Jan. 11 and had pleaded guilty.