Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has sentenced a 56-year-old woman to 10 years in jail for trafficking 330 grammes of cocaine.
Justice Rilwan Aikawa convicted and sentenced Oluwayemisi Owolabi after she pleaded guilty to one-count charge of drug trafficking preferred against her by Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The convict’s lawyer, Morenike Ogunleye, pleaded: “The convict is a first-time offender, and she is sober. She is a mother of four children, who is single- Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, handedly taking care of them, as she had separated from her husband.”
The judge asked the prosecutor, Ibrahim, for the punishment for the crime committed as stipulated by the NDLEA Act, and the prosecutor said it is life imprisonment.
Justice Aikawa ruled: “I have listened to the plea made on her behalf by the counsel, and also listened to the prosecutor that she has no record of crime. I have to consider both her plea and what the law says about the crime.
Consequently, I hereby sentence her to 10 years imprisonment, starting from the day of her arrest, which was in May 19 at the Lagos Airport, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight to Saudi Arabia.”
