THE Federal High Court 8 in Lagos State sentenced a businessman, Ajah Johnson Uchenn, and his wife, Rosemary Uchenna, to a combined total of 22 years in prison on Monday, August 4, for dealing in illicit drugs.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in a statement on Tuesday, August 5, signed by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the couple was caught with 277.5 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
The NDLEA said that while the couple was still being investigated in custody, credible intelligence revealed that the family’s business was going on in their house.
This led to a raid of the home and a store, where 231 kilogrammes of the same substance were recovered by NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, July 1.
They were subsequently arraigned in charge number FHC/L/632C/2025 at the Federal High Court, Lagos, on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, dealing, and storage of 414.2 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa.
In his judgement on the case on Monday, the judge, Deinde Dipeolu, convicted Rosemary on counts 1, 2, and 3 and sentenced her to 17 years in prison without the option of a fine, while her husband, Ajah Uchenna, was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment without the option of a fine on count 1 and six months in jail on count 4 with the option of a N1 million fine.
In addition to the jail terms, the trial judge also ordered that the sum of ₦ 3.4 million recovered from the couple as proceeds of crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Similarly, a Federal High Court in Kano presided over by Simon Amobeda convicted and sentenced a 42-year-old Indian lady, Neetu Neetu, to five years imprisonment for importing 72 parcels of heroin factory sealed in wafer wraps and packaged as chocolates, weighing 11 kilogrammes, into Nigeria through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.
The ICIR reported on Sunday, August 3, that the NDLEA arrested an 80-year-old grandmother, Grace Ekpeme, and a Chinese businessman, Liang Tak You, for drug peddling.
In a statement by the NDLEA on Sunday, July 27, the duo were among those caught in a nationwide crackdown that uncovered synthetic cannabis, popularly known as Colorado, hidden in ‘moimoi’ sachets, and Canadian loud concealed in imported canned food items.
According to Babafemi, Liang was apprehended on Friday at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State, after tracking him from his port of departure, allowing him to pass through Immigration and other airport protocols before arresting him on his way out of the airport.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance