Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of a Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced a trader, Abubakar Sulaiman, to seven years imprisonment for trafficking in illicit drugs.

The judge handed down the sentence after Sulaiman pleaded guilty to a 7-count charge slammed on him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). According to the charge, Sulaiman was said to have dealt in several banned substances which included; Cannabis Sativa, Diazepam, Tramadol, Codeine cough syrup, Rohynol, Methamphetamine, Molly, among others.

Following the guilty plea of the defendant, NDLEA’s lawyer, B.S.Abdullahi, reviewed the facts of the case by tendering all relevant documents, the extra-judicial statement of the defendant, as well as the bulk of the exhibits recovered from him.

After reviewing the facts of the case, Abdullahi urged the court to convict the defendant based on the avalanche of evidence adduced by the prosecution, the admittance of guilt by the defendant and in line with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

In the absence of any objection to the prosecutor’s application by the defence lawyer, Augustin Nwagwu, Justice Alagoa consequently convicted Sulaiman as charged.

In his plea for leniency, the defence lawyer told the court that his client is a firsttime offender who did not waste the time of the court by pleading guilty at the first instance.

He added that the defendant has promised never to be involved in any criminal act again if given a second chance. In his judgement,, Justice Alagoa sentenced the convicts to seven years imprisonment with an option of N5 million fine in lieu of custodian sentence.

Some of the counts reads: “That you ABUBAKAR SULAIMAN, Male, 43 years old on or about the 27th May, 2025 at Ikorodu, Lagos State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court without lawful authority dealt in 1 kilogram Cannabis Sativa, narcotic drug similar to cocaine, heroin and LSD and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 11(c) of the National Orug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004”.

“That you ABUBAKAR SULAIMAN, Male, 43 years old on or about the 27″ May, 2025 at tkorodu, Lagos State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court without lawful authority dealt in 1.7 kilogram of Diazepam, Psychotropic substance similar to cocaine, heroin and LSD and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004”.