Man jailed for smoking hemp in public

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has sentenced a 50-year-old man, one Monday Obi, to a two-year imprisonment for smoking Indian hemp in public. The convict was said to have been arrested in Ikoyi. The convict was given the jail term by the court presided over by Justice Ayotunde Faji, after he pleaded guilty […]

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has sentenced a 50-year-old man, one Monday Obi, to a two-year imprisonment for smoking Indian hemp in public.

The convict was said to have been arrested in Ikoyi.

The convict was given the jail term by the court presided over by Justice Ayotunde Faji, after he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of unlawful possession and dealing in the banned substance, made against him by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Prior to the Court’s judgment  the Prosecutor, Juliana Imaobong-Ikoabuchi, had told Justice Faji that her agency had once arrested the convict on January 19, 2018, with 240 grams of Cannabis Sativa, but was released without being prosecuted after he was counseled on the danger associated with taking the harmful weed.

The Prosecutor told the court that the convict failed to heed to the warning, as he was again arrested on January 12, 2019, on Queen Street, now Oyinkan Abayomi Street, where the court is sited with 300 grams of the banned weed.

The Prosecutor, while urging the Court to pronounce the convict guilty as charged, tendered the Indian hemp weighing 240 grams as exhibit, which was admitted by the court.

The Prosecutor also told the Court that the offense committed by the convict, contravene sections 11 (c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap 30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

In sentencing the convict, Justice Ayokunle Faji, said: “Obi who had earlier been arrested but was released after he was given a second chance to repent, refused to change. This shows that the convict is unrepentant. A strong message must be sent out there for the type of punishment that awaits the likes of Obi that crime does not pay.”