₦airaland Forum

Lagos—A 56-year-old mother of four, Oluwayemisi Owolabi, was yesterday sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, over cocaine trafficking. Justice Rilwan Aikawa convicted and sentenced Owolabi after she pleaded guilty to one-count charge of drug trafficking preferred against her by the National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency, NDLEA. The hidden drug found on Okafor While urging the court to convict and sentence Owolabi, the prosecutor, Ibrahim Abu, reviewed the fact of the case, tendered the convict’s harmonised Ecowas passport, an e-ticket and boarding pass as evidence. Other evidence tendered before the court include three written statements of the convict, two request of scientific aid form, a drug analysing report, two evidence pouches, two transparent pouches containing the drug, two scientific report of the drug, and a sealed brown envelope, which were admitted as exhibits. The convict’s lawyer, Morenike Ogunleye, pleaded: “The convict is a first time offender, and she is sober. She is a mother of four children, who is single-handedly taking care of them, as she has separated from her husband.” The judge asked the prosecutor, Ibrahim, for the punishment for the crime committed as stipulated by the NDLEA Act, and the prosecutor said it is life imprisonment. Justice Aikawa ruled: “I have listened to the plea made on her behalf by the counsel, and also listened to the prosecutor that she has no record of crime. I have to consider both her plea and what the law says about the crime. “Consequently, I hereby sentence her to 10 years imprisonment, starting from the day of her arrest,” which was in May 19 at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, during outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight to Saudi Arabia, with 330 grammes of cocaine.

Lagos socialite, Mrs Fumilola Arike Ogbuaya, who was declared wanted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, in connection with unlawful exportation of 1.595kg of cocaine to Saudi Arabia three months ago, has reported at the agency’s Lagos Command. The anti-narcotics agency commenced investigation on Mrs. Ogbuaya after arresting one Odeyemi Omolara Morayo, also known as Ariyo Monsurat Olabisi, for drug trafficking. The suspect, during interrogation, implicated Ogbuaya. Several invitations, according to the NDLEA, to the socialite for questioning was not honoured. The agency’s head of Public Affairs, Ofoyeju Mitchell, who confirmed Ogbua’s visit, disclosed that NDLEA had also secured an interim forfeiture order for several assets worth billions of naira traced to Mrs Ogbuaya. He said: “The suspect reported at the NDLEA office, weekend, in response to the manhunt organised for her in relation to the investigation of one Odeyemi Omolara Morayo, alias Ariyo Monsurat Olabisi, who was caught with cocaine on her way to Saudi Arabia. “Subsequently, the Lagos residence of Mrs Fumilola Arike Ogbuaya was traced by a team of investigators but she was not at home. The suspect, for several months, ignored invitation from the Agency requesting her to clear herself in an ongoing cocaine investigation. “The Agency is working for a final forfeiture order on the landed properties worth several billions of naira traced to Mrs Fumilola Arike Ogbuaya in Lagos, Ogun and Osun states. “The assets include Arike Plaza, some plots of land and buildings in strategic locations. The Lagos socialite, a distributor of alcoholic drinks, who hails from Ilesa, Osun State, is needed by the NDLEA in the ongoing investigations.”