The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted and sentenced a Canadian lady, Adrienne Munju, 41 to 11 years imprisonment for allegedly importing 35.20 kilogramme of Canadian Loud (Cannabis Sativa) into Nigeria.
Trial judge, Justice Deinde Dipeolu on Wednesday also gave the convict an option of paying a fine of ₦50 million for the offence.
Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced Munju to a term of imprisonment following her guilty plea to the two counts charge preferred against her by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to the charge, Adrienne Munju was alleged to have on or about the 3rd day 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 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa, otherwise known as ‘Canadian Loud’.
The offence committed is said to be 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.
At the proceedings in court on Monday, Munju was arraigned before Justice Dipeolu.
The NDLEA prosecutor, Abu Ibrahim informed the court that the prosecution has a two-count charge pending before the court and pleaded that the charge be read so that the defendant can take her plea.
On the judge’s order, the charge was read and Adrienne Munju pleaded guilty to the same.
Following her guilty plea, Abu informed the court of the readiness of the prosecution to review the facts of the case and for a prosecution witness to be called to give evidence and tender relevant exhibits.
After reviewing the facts of the case, the prosecutor urged the court to convict the defendant as charged based on the evidence, the exhibits tendered and the guilty plea of the defendant.
Justice Dipeolu reviewed the facts of the case as submitted by Abu Ibrahim and convicted the defendant as charged.
In his submission after allocutus by the defendant, counsel to the defendant, Chief Benson Ndakara, pleaded with the court to have mercy on the convict.
“We plead for leniency on behalf of the convict my Lord. The convict pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity by not wasting the precious time of the court and has been very remorseful,” he stated.
Ndakara added that the convict has promised never to toe the line of criminality again and to be more careful in doing things in future if given a second chance.
Speaking on the mitigating factors leading to the crime, Ndakara said the convict was deceived into taking the high risk and urged the court to be lenient in sentencing her.
The counsel also pleaded with the court to impose an option of fine on the convict instead of a custodian sentence, adding that the convict has no relatives or acquittances in Nigeria as she has been abandoned by everyone.
After listening to the defendant’s counsel allocutus, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Munju to six years imprisonment on count one and five years on count two or an option of ₦50 million fine on each count.
Justice Dipeolu also ordered that both the sentence and the option of fine shall run concurrently.
The 41-year-old Canadian woman, Adrienne Munju, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on October 3 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for importing a large consignment of a strong strain of synthetic cannabis called ‘Canadian Loud’.
The suspect was arrested during the inward clearance of passengers on a KLM airline flight from Canada at Terminal 1 of the Lagos airport.
According to information from the anti-narcotic agency, “During a joint examination of her three bags, Adrienne, who was in Nigeria for the first time, was found with 74 parcels of the illicit substance weighing 35.20 kilograms, stuffed in two of her three bags.”
“In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the 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.”
The charge against the convict 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 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa, otherwise known as ‘Canadian Loud’, you thereby committing 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 day 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 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa.”
