Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in
Lagos on Thursday sentenced 45-year-old Martin Ikechukwu, to 10 years
imprisonment for unlawful importation of cocaine.
This came even as he faces another sentencing for
similar offence on November 27. Ikechucwu had pleaded guilty before Justice
Benedicta Molokwu of the same court.
Before his conviction by Buba, Ikechukwu, who was
granted bail after he had earlier pleaded not guilty, absconded after the
prosecution called two witnesses.
He was later arrested for a similar offence he
was facing trial for.
This development informed his second arraignment
before Molokwu.
The prosecution counsel, Raphael Hinmikaiye, of
the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said this while reviewing the facts of
Ikechukwu’s case before Buba on Thursday.
He said, “Ikechukwu had been arrested in Lagos on
February 23, 2010 for being in possession of one kilogramme of cocaine he was
imported from Brazil and was subsequently arraigned in April 2010.
“The man, who had pleaded not guilty to the
charge when he was arraigned before in April 2010, absconded from trial after
the prosecution called two witnesses.
“He was later arrested in September 2012 at the Murtala
Mohammed International Airport, Lagos for unlawfully importing another
consignment of liquid cocaine from Brazil.”
He however pleaded guilty when he was
subsequently arraigned again at the court presided over by Molokwu.
Buba had on November 14, 2012 ordered that
Ikechukwu be produced in his court when Hinmikaiye informed him that the
convict had been re-arrested and charged before Molokwu.
Ikechukwu was produced on Wednesday and was
rearraigned on the earlier charge.
He pleaded guilty after which Buba
adjourned till Thursday for review of facts and sentencing.
While giving the verdict of the court, Buba
ignored his plea for leniency and sentenced him to 10 years after finding him
guilty.
Buba said Ikechukwu’s guilt plea was not a
sign of remorse, but that he had only made such plea because all routes of
escape had been shut against him.
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