36-year-old Man Sentenced To Life Imprisonment For Importation Of Cocaine

A 36-year-old Nigerian was Friday
sentenced to life imprisonment by an
Abuja Federal High Court for unlawful
importation of cocaine.
Calistus Sunday Chukwukelu, who said he
had planned to get married later this
year, was arrested at the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on
January 1 while returning to the
country, via an Ethiopia Airline flight
from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
He was arrested by officials of the
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA) with 1.470 kilogramme of
cocaine.
He was consequently charged under
Section 11 (a) of the NDLEA Act, which
prescribed a maximum sentence of life
imprisonment on conviction.
When the charge was read to
Chukwukelu Friday, he pleaded guilty,
following which he was convicted by
Justice Adeniyi Ademola.
He consequently pleaded with the court
for leniency.
He said he took to the drug trade when
his shop, where he sold clothes in Lagos,
got burnt.
He also said he had planned to get
married this year before he was caught
and has an aged mother to cater for.
Delivering his judgement, Justice
Ademola said his plea of leniency was
insufficient to dissuade the court from
sentencing him to life imprisonment.
The judge held that aside that the law
under which Chukwukelu was charged
prescribed life imprisonment, evidence
from his international passport
indicated that he was not a novice in
the trade.

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