The four persons, who were arrested at different times in the state, were Grace Etim (32, female), Obini Mathias (65, male), Sunday Imoh (19, male) and Wisdom Philip (20, male).
The Federal High Court in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, has jailed four persons for being in possession of cannabis sativa, popularly known as Indian hemp.
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[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″]The 65-year-old first time offender, in his charge number FHC/CA/CR/1/2016, was jailed for two years and six months without any option of fine with effect from December 19, 2015.As contained in the charge sheet, Mathias admitted guilt when the one-count charge was read to him during the course of his trial.[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″]In separate judgments delivered by Justice I.E Ikwo, and made available to The Nation in Calabar, Mathias was apprehended by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at his house in Alok village, Ikom Local Government Area of the state for being in possession of 9.45kg of Indian hemp.[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″]Of the first time offender, however, Ikwo noted, “Prosecution says the convict has no record of previous conviction. This means that the convict is a first time offender. It is the law that the court is not to visit the whole weight of the law on the person that is a first time offender.[/vc_column][/vc_row]
According to the first prosecution witness, Ochika Simon (a deputy superintendent of narcotic), a team of NDLEA officers caught the convict with the Indian hemp neatly concealed in white sack in his house.
“The convict is hereby sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment with effect from December 19, 2015 without option of fine.”
“I will take this into consideration together with the allocations of the learned counsel for the defendant and exercise leniency by not imposing maximum sentence.
However, in the charge number FHC/CA/CR/63/2015, involving Sunday Imoh and Wisdom Philip, the first time offenders had no legal representations and had to stand in for themselves.
In his judgment, Justice Ikwo said: “The first convict (Imoh) is sentenced to one year and six months imprisonment with effect from October 3, 2015 without option of fine, while the second convict (Philip) is sentenced to one year imprisonment with effect from October 3, 2015.”
The duo, who pleaded guilty to the offence, was caught with 250 grammes of Indian hemp on October 3, 2015 at the Mammy Market, Akim Barracks, in Calabar Municipality LGA.
The only female convict (Grace Etim), who was caught with 3.7kg of Indian hemp in her house in the maternity area of Akpabuyo LGA on January 13, 2016, was sentenced to two years imprisonment without option of fine.
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