Man Sentenced to Six Months Community Service, for Dealing in 1.029kg of Drugs

Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, last Wednesday, convicted and sentenced one Dauda Yakubu to six months community service and  payment of  N300,000 fine, for dealing in three types of hard drugs.

As part of the sentence, the trial Judge further ordered that, while serving the community service, the Convict should be made to carry banners with inscriptions as “stop dealing in hard drugs”, “stop taking hard drugs” and “say no to hard drugs”, among others.

Justice Dipeolu handed down the sentence following the plea of guilt by Dauda Yakubu to a three-count charge of unlawful dealing in 91 grams of Cannabis Sativa, 900 grams of codeine based cough syrup, and 38 grams of Tramadol tablets. The offence according to the prosecution is said to be punishable under Section 11C of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

When the matter came up for trial, the Prosecutor, Mrs A.A. Owoyemi, told the court that the prosecution had a three-count charge pending before the court, and urged the court to order that the charge be read so that the Defendant could take his plea. The charge Number, FHC/L/388C/25 was then read, and the Defendant pleaded guilty to same. Following the guilty plea, the facts of the case was then reviewed, with the tendering of relevant documents and exhibits.

After reviewing the facts of the case, the Prosecutor asked the Judge to convict the Defendant, based on his guilty plea and the exhibits tendered in support of the case.

Justice Dipeolu consequently convicted the Defendant.

Upon the conviction, the Convict’s Counsel, Miss Bola Bolawole, made allocutus on behalf of the Convict. In her allocutus, Miss Bolawole urged the court to temper justice with mercy, adding that the Convict is a first time offender, who pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. She added that the Convict had promised never to go into crime, if given another opportunity.

Justice Dipeolu in his sentence, ordered the Convict to pay a N300,000 fine and  serve six months community service. The trial Judge further ordered that while serving the community service,  the Convict should be made to carry placards with other inscriptions like “Avoid drug abuse”, “Don’t deal in hard drugs, hard drugs are injurious to your health”, among others.