A Federal High Court sitting in Jos on Wednesday sentenced an 18-year-old boy to a one-year imprisonment for unlawful possession of hard drugs.
The convict, Kingsley Dung, was arrested on April 23 by some officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, at Congo Rosha in the Jos North Local Government Area.
Counsel for the NDLEA, Mr Bundi Suleiman, had told the court that the convict was arrested with 1.4kg of Canniva Sativa, popularly known as Indian hemp.
Suleiman said that the offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of the NDLEA Act, Cap. N30, LFN, 2004 (As Amended).
When the count was read to Dung, he pleaded guilty.
Thereafter, the NDLEA counsel applied for Dung’s summary trial, since he had pleaded guilty to the charge against him.
“My lord, the accused has owned up to his crime. The court should give him a summary trial and convict him, to serve as a deterrent to others,’’ Suleiman pleaded.
The NDLEA counsel had called one Ezekiel Yusuf, an officer with the agency, who testified against the accused and tendered the 1.4kg hard drug contained in a Polythene bag as an exhibit against him.
It was at this point that Dung quickly knelt down and pleaded with the Judge for leniency.
“I am a first offender; I am on my knees pleading for mercy from this court. I promise, I won’t get myself involved in this business again,’’ the convict pleaded.
The trial Judge, Justice Dorcas Agishi, sentenced the teenager to 12 months imprisonment.
She said that the 12 months’ imprisonment was in cognisance with the record that he (Dung) was a first-time convict and his plea.
Agishi warned the convict against indulging in such illicit business after serving his jail term but should be a young man of good behavior, in the interest of his family and the nation.