Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced four drug traffickers to a cumulative 28 years imprisonment with hard labour.
The convicts are Soji Jubril Oke, 71; Wasiu Akinade, 55; Emmanuel Arinze Chukwu, 67; and Kelvin Christopher Smith, 44, a Jamaican.
They were convicted for conspiring to form and operate a drug trafficking organisation (DTO), management and financing of a DTO and importation and possession of 2,139.55 kilogrammes of cocaine, among others.
The quartet was arrested by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in various locations in Lagos between September 18 and 19, 2022.
The recovery remains the largest single cocaine haul in Nigeria’s history.
The spokesman for the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said in a statement that the convicts were charged with six counts in a suit marked FHC/L/607C/2022.
He said the trial of a fifth suspect, Oguntolure Sunday, who was arraigned alongside the quartet, was still ongoing.
The statement reads in part: “The trial judge handed the Jamaican, Kelvin Christopher Smith, four years imprisonment with hard labour; Emmanuel Arinze Chukwu received a total of 16 years; Soji Jubril Oke was sentenced to five years with hard labour, and Wasiu Akinade got three years with hard labour.
“The trial judge, however, gave the convicts varying options of fines, except for one who must serve the full jail term without an option of fine. They were also ordered to forfeit a grey Toyota Tacoma SUV (registration number AAA-734HT) registered in the name of Emmanuel Chukwu, $50,000 belonging to Chukwu, ₦55,099,509.50 also belonging to Chukwu, ₦9,003,168.06 belonging to Wasiu Akinade, and ₦3,052,295.20 also belonging to Akinade.”
In another development, the NDLEA secured the final forfeiture of two properties linked to the drug cartel in a suit marked FHC/L/MISC/672/2024 and filed before Justice Bogoro on December 9, 2024.
Babafemi quoted the court as saying: “An order of final forfeiture and confiscation is granted in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria for Landed Property/House Number 6 Olokunola Street, Solebo Estate, Ikorodu, Lagos State, used for the storage and concealment of 2,139.55kg of cocaine, an illicit substance.
“An order of final forfeiture and confiscation is also granted in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria for Landed Property/House Number J9, Road 3, Close 1, Victoria Garden City Estate, Lagos State, reasonably believed to have been purchased with proceeds from drug trafficking.
“An order is granted directing the sale or disposal of the forfeited properties by any lawful means, with the proceeds paid to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
