A Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced a 40-year-old America-trained Nollywood filmmaker, Mbadiwe Emeka, to five years imprisonment for trafficking in 17. 30 kilograms of Canada Loud, Cannabis Sativa, a narcotic drug similar to cocaine, LSD, and heroin.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, handed down the jail term on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, after Emeka pleaded guilty to the two counts of unlawful importation of the drug by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Earlier, when the convict was arraigned, the NDLEA prosecution counsel, Abu Ibrahim, told the court that the convict was arrested on December 24, 2024, during the examination of incoming cargo with Airway Bill No: 00637337285, from Huston, United States of America at the National Handling Company Import Shed, a Customs Area/Point of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.
Ibrahim told the court that the convict had procured one Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James to import the banned drug.
According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 21(1)(e) and are punishable under Sections 11(a), 20 (1) (a) and 20 (2) (a)of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
However, Emeka pleaded guilty to the two counts.
Following his guilty plea, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the case and tendered all exhibits in the charge.
Meanwhile, the convict’s lawyer, Dennis Warri, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing his client.
He pleaded with the court to consider his client’s timely guilty plea, as a sign of remorse and for not wasting the court’s time.
Warri urged the court to give the convict a non-custodial sentence or a fine option in lieu of the custodial sentence.
After listening to the submissions of parties, Justice Lewis-Allagoa sentenced the convicted filmmaker to five years imprisonment.
The judge however ordered him to pay N3m in lieu of the jail term.
The court also ordered that the bulk of the exhibit and the iPhone 12 pro-Max be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.