Four get 42 years imprisonment for drug trafficking

Four convicted drug traffickers– Asirah Onyongha, Chinonso Onuchukwu, Bala Garba and Okafor Tochukwu – have been sentenced to 42 years in prison by federal high courts in the country.

While Onyongha was jailed 15 years and Onuchukwu and Garba were sentenced to 10 years each, Tochukwu, who was convicted for attempted smuggling, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

The PUNCH learnt that the first convict, who hails from Cross River State, had been arrested and prosecuted for cultivating drugs and dealing in hemp, while Onuchukwu and Garba who are indigenes of Nasarawa and Niger states respectively, were charged for peddling cannabis.

It was also learnt that 1,238 others had been convicted by the courts in the past six months.

Among them was Onwuka Ukaeagbu, who was made to forfeit a sum of $8,000 (about N1.3m) in addition to three and a half years prison term.

Confirming the development, the Chairman of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mr. Ahmadu Giade said the agency had got a total of 1,242 convictions.

He said, “The agency has won the conviction of 1,242 drug traffickers at the federal high courts. This is contained in the prosecution scorecard of the agency in the first half of the year 2014.

“Most of the convicts were sentenced to between three and a half to 15 years imprisonment. Some notable cases included that of Asirah Onyongha who was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on two counts of cultivation and dealing in hemp in Cross Rivers State.

“In Nasarawa State, one Chinonso Onuchukwu was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for unlawful dealing in cannabis.

“Another convict, Bala Garba also got 10 years imprisonment for dealing in cannabis in Niger State. In Lagos, Okafor Tochukwu was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for attempting to export cocaine. Onwuka Ukaeagbu, in addition to three and half years imprisonment, was made to forfeit the sum of $8, 000.”

Giade added that drug trafficking would continue to attract stiffer penalties to deter others from engaging in the crime.

“Drug trafficking is a highly lucrative crime. It is therefore logical that there should be stiff punishment to serve as deterrent to others.

“The NDLEA shall remain committed to its legal policy of making drug traffickers accountable for their criminal acts. Every infringement against the provisions of the NDLEA Act must be pursued to a logical conclusion,” he said.