Court gavel
By EMMANUEL JIMOH, Benin –
A Federal High Court in Benin, the Edo State’s capital has sentenced a major drug dealer, Mike Omoarukhe, his manager and three other workers in his cannabis farms to 75 years imprisonment.
The convicts were charged by the NDLEA on five counts bordering on possession of 183.5 kilograms of cannabis sativa, conspiracy to possess, cultivate and cultivation of 22 hectares of cannabis farms.
Delivering his judgement in the case on Thursday 14th October, Justice A.C. Obiozor sitting in Court 2 of the Federal High Court, Benin Judicial Division, sentenced the defendants to 15 years on each of the five counts, bringing the total years of imprisonment to 75 years, which will run concurrently.
The judge however gave the convicts an option of N700,000 fine on all the counts.
In reaction to the ruling in a statement on Friday, Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has directed that immediate appeal be filed at the appellate court against the option of N700, 000 fine granted the convicts by the trial judge.