Former professional football player Okafor Emmanuel Junior was found guilty and given a jail term.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced him to five years in jail for selling cocaine.
The decision was made after Emmanuel admitted guilt to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s accusation of trafficking in the illegal narcotic (NDLEA).
According to the prosecutor Augustine Nwagu, the former football player was detained on September 26,2022, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, after arriving from Brazil carrying 1.4 kilograms of cocaine.
Nwagu argued before the court that the conviction’s offense violated section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and was punishable by the same Act.
The prosecutor requested that the court sentence the defendant in accordance with the legal provision for which he was accused after he entered a guilty plea.
Dennis Warri, the defendant’s attorney, begged with the court to temper justice with kindness when it came to the convict’s sentence.
Warri requested the court to take into account the convict’s timely admission of guilt, noting that the man has become repentant since his detention and swore never to commit another crime.
He specifically encouraged the court to take the alternative of a fine instead of a custodial sentence into consideration.
In his ruling, Justice Oweibo condemned the guilty party to five years in jail, beginning on the day of their arrest.
However, the judge offered the defendant the choice of a N1 million fine instead of incarceration.
