By Akin Kuponiyi
A federal high court sitting in Lagos southwest Nigeria presided over by Justice Abimbola Olawumi Awogboro, on Tuesday, inspected 45 bags of cannabis sativa popularly called marijuana or igbo brought to the court premises in a pickup van as an exhibit.
The inspection of the dangerous substance was at the request of the National Drug law Enforcement Agency prosecutor, Mr J.I.Aernan, in the course of the trial of three accused persons, John Ogunmefu, 36; Idowu Adebayo, 33; and Okoliko Andrew who were alleged to be the merchants of the dangerous weeds.
Others in attendance in the course of inspecting the bags of the weeds to ascertain the number of bags are,the counsel to the accused person’s Barrister Prosper Ojakovo, the prosecutor Mr J. I. Aernan, some NDLEA officials who brought the exhibit to court, and the court Registrar Mr Joe Olutoye.
In a two-count charge filed before the court by the prosecutor, J.I.Aernan, the three accused men were alleged to have sometime in the year 2020 at Majidun, Awori Ikorodu, a suburb area of Lagos state without lawful authority dealt in 566.244 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa.
After the inspection of the weeds packed in a pickup van within the premises of the court, the presiding Judge Awogboro adjourned till the 4th of July,2022 when the trial of the accused persons will continue.
The two-count charge as stated in the charge numbered FhC/L/202C/2020 are:
Count 1
That you John Ogunmefu, male adult,36 years old, Idowu Adebayo, male, adult,33 years old and Okoliko Andrew, male adult 34 years old on or about the 27th day of May 2020 at Majidun Awori Ikorodu, Lagos state within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, without lawful authority, conspired amongst yourselves to wit; deal in 566.244kg of Cannabis Sativa, a narcotic similar to Cocaine, Heroin and LSD and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 14(b)of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
COUNT II
That you, John Ogunmefun, male, adult, 36 years old, Idowu Adebayo, male, adult, 33 years old and Okoliko Andrew, male, adult, 34 years old on or about the 27thday of May 2020 at Majidun Awori Ikorodu, Lagos State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without lawful authority, dealt in 566.244kg of Cannabis Sativa, a narcotic drug similar to Cocaine, Heroin and LSD and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.