20 Ghanaian fishermen were each given a one-year prison term by a Federal High Court in Lagos State of Nigeria on Thursday for bringing 13.670 kilograms of marijuana, often known as cannabis, from Ghana to Nigeria.
According to the Punch, Justice Nicholas Oweibo found them guilty of the charges of conspiracy and illegal drug transportation and sentenced them to prison.
On Thursday, August 4, 2022, they received their punishment.
Francis Teye, Kweke Komel, Gad Adjah, Theophilus Tetteh, Kwesi Aboagye, Ekon Fynn, Kwamena Baah, Kwabina Adjei, Micheal Okutu, Isaac Kofi, Kweku Moko, Kwezi Adzi, and Kweku Mensah are among the fisherman who have been found guilty.
Others include Nana Kodwo, Isaac Yorsson, Otu Otipeseku, Joshua Huago, Michael Kofi, Ekon Bentum, and Kwesi Amissah.
On January 14, 2022, the inmates were apprehended together with the narcotic that had been transported from Ghana into Nigerian territorial waters.
On two charges of conspiracy and illegal substance transportation, they were charged.
The offenses were contradictory to and punishable under sections 11(b) and 14(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, according to the prosecutor, Mr. Fingere Owen.
To the allegations, the defendants entered guilty pleas.
The prosecutor went over the case’s facts after the defendants admitted guilt.
In addition, Owen presented some exhibits and requested the court to find the defendants guilty and impose punishment consistent with the sections for which they were accused.
The court was informed by the defendants’ attorneys, Mr. Uche Okoronkwo and Calistus Onyewueke of Minerva Legal Practice, that all of the defendants were first-time offenders with no prior criminal histories.
Okoronkwo testified before the court that his clients were fishermen hired by an alleged client who withheld the contents of the bag from them.
The Punch stated that Justice Oweibo gave them each a one-year prison term.
Additionally, the judge ruled that the punishment should start on the day they were arrested.
He did, however, order that the boat used to smuggle the illegal substance be confiscated to the Federal Government and that the prisoners pay the sum of N50,000 apiece in lieu of their sentences.
