- Safiu Kehinde
A 39-year-old man, Adesina Osopale, has bagged two years imprisonment in Agodi correctional facility for peddling 217g of Marijuana.
In a judgement delivered at the Federal High Court in Ibadan on Wendesday, the presiding judge, Justice Nkeonye Maha, convicted and sentenced Osopale following his guilty plea and the evidence tendered against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Oyo State Command.
Maha said that the court considered the fact that the convict was a first-time offender, his plea for mercy and demonstration of remorse.
“I hope that you would come back into the society as a truly changed person and not to recruit fresh Cannabis peddlers?
“However, to serve as deterrent, Osopale is sentenced to two years in the correctional centre.
“The exhibit found in his possession is forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria and shall be destroyed by the NDLEA,” the judge held.
During his prayer for mercy, Osopale told the court that he was not fully aware of the implications of drug trafficking to the society.
Earlier, the Prosecution counsel, Mr D.O. Otunla had informed the court that the convict committed the crime on July 6, at Olounsogu Street, Molete, near the former NITEL office, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Otunla also said that NDLEA operatives arrested Osopale after receiving intelligence reports that he was into the illicit drug business.
According to him, the convict was eventually apprehended in possession of a bag containing 217g of Cannabis Sativa.
Otunla said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 11(C ) of the NDLEA Act Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.