Justice Nicholas Oweibo, the presiding Judge over Lagos state Federal High Court has on Thursday, August 4th, convicted and sentenced 20 Ghanaian fishermen to one year imprisonment each for the transportation of about 13.670 kilogrammes of marijuana, into Nigeria from Ghana.
The convicted fishermen include Francis Teye, Kweke Komel, Gad Adjah, Theophilus Tetteh, Kwesi Aboagye, Ekon Fynn, Kwamena Baah, Kwabina Adjei, Micheal Okutu, Isaac Kofi, Kweku Moko, Kwezi Adzi and Kweku Mensah.
Others are Micheal Kofi, Ekon Bentum, Kwesi Amissah, Joshua Huago, Otu Otipeseku, Isaac Yorsson and Nana Kodwo.
The convicts were on January 14, 2022 arrested with the drug conveyed from their country into the Nigerian territorial waters and afterwards arraigned on two counts of conspiracy and unlawful transportation of the substance.
According to the Prosecutor Mr. Fingere Owen, who told the court, the offences were contrary to and punishable under sections 11(b) and 14(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
The defendants however pleaded guilty to the charges.
Following their guilt pleas, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the case, tendering some exhibits and advising the court to convict and sentence them in accordance to the sections they were charged with.
However, lawyers for the convicts, Mr. Uche Okoronkwo, who led Calistus Onyewueke, both of Minerva Legal Practice, told the court that all the defendants were first time offenders without previous criminal records.
Okoronkwo told the court that his clients were fishermen, who were engaged by a purported customer, who did not tell them the content of the bag.
Justice Oweibo who sentenced them ordered that the sentence commence from the date of their arrest.
He, ordered also that the convicts pay the sum of N50,000 each in lieu of the sentence and ordered that the boat used in smuggling the banned substance be forfeited to the Federal Government.
