A professional footballer Mr Umeh Henry has been jailed for being in possession of cocaine.
Henry was found in possession of 15grammes of Cocaine by anti drug agency, NDLEA.
Here are the details
A Federal High Court in Lagos on
Wednesday sentenced one Umeh Henry to two years imprisonment for being
in unlawful possession of cocaine.
Shortly before the pronouncement, the
convict, while pleading with the court to temper justice with mercy,
said he was a professional footballer based in Brazil.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
had, last week Thursday, brought Henry before Justice Mohammed Idris on
the allegation that he was found in unlawful possession of 15 grammes
of cocaine. The prosecutor, Mr. Vembe Emmanuel, had told the court that
he was arrested by NDLEA operatives on October 6 last year.
He was said to have been apprehended
during the inward clearance of the Emirate Airlines from Brazil via
Dubai at the E-arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International
Airport, Lagos.
The agency charged him with one count
bordering on the offence against the provisions of Section 11(c) of the
NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The convict immediately pleaded guilty to the offence.
At the resumed trial on Wednesday,
Vembe, after reviewing the facts of the case, prayed the court to
convict Henry and sentence him accordingly.
“My Lord, in view of the plea of the
accused person and the evidence before this hounourable court, we urge
your Lordship to convict the accused in line with the provisions of
sections 218 and 285 of the Criminal Procedure Act,” Vembe submitted.
Idris consequently convicted Henry of the crime as prayed by Vembe.
The defence counsel, Chief Benson
Ndakara, however pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in
pronouncing the sentence.
Ndakara urged the court to note that
Henry was contrite and had without wasting the time of the court and tax
payers’ money pleaded guilty to the offence.
The lawyer also urged the court to note
that the 15 grammes of cocaine found on Henry was for his personal use
rather than for sale.
In his own allocutus, Henry himself told
the court that he took to using hard drug to address certain problems
that he was dealing with. He added that a friend had recommended it to
him.
In his judgment, Idris said he was
pleased that the convict had voluntarily owned up to the crime without
waiting for the court to find him out.
The judge however counselled the convict on the evil effect of hard drug.
“I’m happy that your story was constant and that you did not use it for commercial purposes.
“I like it that you had said the truth
and God will forgive you. But don’t take drug anymore; any relief it
gives you is just temporary.
“So, when you get out of jail don’t use it again,” Idris sai
No comments:
Post a Comment