….. Her conviction and stiff penalty will send a strong warning to other traffickers, says Marwa
A 41-year-old Canadian lady, Adrienne Munju, was on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, convicted and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Lagos for importing 74 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of synthetic cannabis weighing 35.20 kilograms, into Nigeria.
According to a press release on Wednesday, 23rd October 2024 signed by the NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Munju’s conviction followed her arraignment on two counts of charges before Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of a Federal High Court, Lagos, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, which arrested her at Terminal 1 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos, on Thursday, October 3, 2024, during the inward clearance of inbound passengers on KLM flights at the ‘D’ Arrival Hall of the airport.
In her statement after her arrest, she had claimed she was recruited to traffic the illicit consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos. She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree programme in Canada.
Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced Muju to a term of imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against her by NDLEA. Prosecuting Counsel, Barrister Abu Ibrahim, told the court that the illegal acts of the convict contravened sections 20(1}(a) and 19 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act (NDLEA) Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and were punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the same Act.
Following her guilty plea, the prosecutor called his witness, Angela Mba, an Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics, who narrated how the Canadian was arrested with the illicit drugs, after which she tendered some exhibits, which include two suitcases that were used in concealing the drugs, her Canadian passport, confessional statements, laboratory test analysis reports, and samples of the illicit drug. All the tendered exhibits were admitted as Exhibits 1 to 13.
After the conclusion of the review of the facts of the crime, the prosecutor urged the court to convict the Canadian as charged based on the evidence placed before the court, the exhibits tendered, and the guilty plea of the defendant. As a result, Justice Dipeolu, after reviewing the facts of the case as submitted by Abu Ibrahim, convicted the defendant as charged.
After listening to the allocutus by the defendant’s counsel, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Adrienne Munju to six years imprisonment on count one and five years on count two.
The judge, however, gave the convict an option of a N50 million fine on each of the two counts, bringing the total fine to N100 million.
The two-count charge reads: “That you Adrienne Munju, Adult, Female, a Canadian, on or about the 3rd of October, 2024, during the inward clearance of in-bound passengers on KLM flight at the ‘D’ Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja,
Lagos without lawful authority imported 35.20 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa, otherwise known as ‘Canadian Loud’, and you thereby committed an act which is an offence contrary to Section 20(1)(a) and punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act (NDLEA) Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“That you Adrienne Munju, Adult, Female, a Canadian, on or about the 3rd of October, 2024, during the inward clearance of in-bound passengers on KLM flight at the ‘D’ Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, without lawful authority, knowingly possessed 35.20 kilograms of Cannabis sativa, otherwise known as ‘Canadian Loud’, you thereby committed an act which is an offence contrary to Section 19 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act (NDLEA) Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
While commending the officers and men of the MMIA Strategic Command involved in the arrest and prosecution of the case as well as the judiciary for speedy adjudication, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) said the prompt conviction and sentencing of the convict as well as the stiff penalty will send a strong warning to foreigners and others who may be contemplating bringing illicit drugs into Nigeria.
