Court sentences Canadian woman to 11 years in prison for importing 35.2kg cannabis into Nigeria

Court sentences Canadian woman to 11 years in prison for importing 35.2kg cannabis into Nigeria

A federal high court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced
Adrienne Munju, a Canadian woman, to 11 years in prison for drug trafficking.

 

The court convicted Munju after she pleaded guilty to a
two-count charge preferred against her by the National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency (NDLEA).

 

Operatives of the NDLEA arrested the convict on October 3 at
terminal 1 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos,
during the inward clearance of inbound passengers on a KLM flight at the
airport’s ‘D’ arrival hall.

 

Narcotic agents found 74 parcels of Canadian loud, a strong
strain of synthetic cannabis, weighing 35.20 kilograms in the possession of the
woman.

 

Munju claimed she was recruited to traffic the illicit
consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon
successful delivery in Lagos.

 

The 41-year-old said she took the offer to be able to raise
money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree programme in Canada.

 

At the court on Wednesday, the Canadian pleaded guilty to
the charges when they were read to her.

 

After the defendant’s pleas, Abu Ibrahim, the NDLEA
prosecutor, called a witness, Angela Mba, an assistant superintendent of
narcotics at the agency.

 

Mba narrated how the Canadian was arrested with the illicit
drugs, after which she tendered some exhibits, which include two suitcases that
were used in concealing the drugs, her Canadian passport, confessional
statements, laboratory test analysis reports, and samples of the illicit drug.
All the items were admitted as exhibits 1 to 13.

 

Deinde Dipeolu, the presiding judge, convicted the defendant
after reviewing the facts and the exhibits.

 

In his allocutus before the court, Benson Ndakara, counsel
to the defendant, pleaded with the court to have mercy on the convict.

 

“We plead for leniency on behalf of the convict, my lord,”
Ndakara said.

 

“The convict pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity by
not wasting the precious time of the court and has been very remorseful.”

 

After listening to the allocutus by the defendant’s counsel,
Dipeolu sentenced Adrienne Munju to six years in prison on count one and five
years on count two.

 

The judge, however, gave the convict an option of a N50
million fine on each of the two counts, amounting to N100 million.

Source: Court sentences Canadian woman to 11 years in prison for importing 35.2kg cannabis into Nigeria

 - NigerianEye
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