Federal High Court jailed 475 drug traffickers

No fewer than 475 people have been convicted and sentenced to various jail terms between September and November 2021 following charges filed against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at Federal High Courts across the country.

The figure represents a portion of the over 1,000 traffickers that were jailed between January and November for drug offenses.

In September, a total of 73 persons were convicted with Jigawa state recording the highest figure of 15 convicts, followed by Adamawa -14 and FCT-11.

Jigawa state also topped the chart of the 150 convictions recorded by the Agency in October with 14 convicts, followed by Niger-13; Katsina-12; Taraba-11, and Lagos- 11.

Adamawa and Abia states had the highest conviction figures in November with 23 each out of a total of 252 convictions recorded by the anti-narcotic agency in the past month, while FCT had 21 and Plateau had 14.

Interesting highlights of some of the cases include that of 32-year-old Chukwuemeka Kalu Orji, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour on October 13th by Justice E.N. Anyadike of the Federal High Court, Umuahia, Abia state. The sentence makes it the third time Kalu Orji will be convicted and jailed for drug offenses. He was first sentenced to eight months in prison on December 15th, 2017 by Justice Anyadike and jailed for three years on December 13th, 2020 by Justice D.E. Osiagor.

In a similar case, 58-year-old Obi Ajah was also convicted and sentenced to five calendar years of imprisonment with hard labour on October 13th by Justice Anyadike. The convict is a second-time offender, having been convicted on November 29th, 2012 by Justice J.A. Olubanjo of the Federal High Court, Umuahia.

Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended the various state commands and the Directorate of Prosecution and Legal Services of the Agency for their commitment to diligent prosecution of cases filed in courts against drug offenders, saying such will go a long way to strengthen the deterrence effect of the work of the Agency.