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By Shade Damiro
Few years after a top police officer, Abba Kyari, was arrested for alleged drug deals, another top uniform man, Akomolafe Gbenga Michael
has been arrested and charged for alleged drug trafficking.
Akomolafe, an Immigration officer serving at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Ikeja in Lagos was arraigned alongside three others before Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on a nine-count charge of alleged conspiracy, unlawful possession, import, and dealing in the prohibited substances.
He was specifically alleged to have been involved in trafficking eight kilograms of Methamphetamine and 7.60 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa, also known as marijuana.
Others arraigned on the alleged offences alongside the Immigration officer are; Babatunde Micheal Olufemi said to be a staff of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nwadozie Chris Amaechi, and Nwosu Chinedu Cyril.
The prosecutor, Abu Ibrahim, told the court that the four who belonged to a hard drug syndicate were arrested on May 21, 2024, while attempting to smuggle the prohibited substances out of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport Ikeja, Lagos.
Ibrahim also told the court that the four men conspired to commit the alleged crimes alongside the duo of Nwadozie Sunday and Echezona Nwosu, based in South Africa.
Specifically, the Immigration officer, Akomolafe was slammed with a six-count charge of conspiracy, unlawful import, unlawful possession, and trafficking in the banned substances while the trio of Olufemi said to be a staff of FAAN, Nwadozie, and Nwosu, was slammed with three counts of conspiracy and unlawful importation and possession of the banned drugs.
The prosecutor told the court that the alleged criminal act of the four men contravened sections 14 (b), 21 (2)(d), and 20 (1)(c) punishable under sections 11(b) and 20 (2)(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
However, while the other three members of the gang pleaded guilty to the charges, the Immigration officer denied the offences and pleaded not guilty to all the counts of the charge.
Based on the not-guilty plea of the Immigration officer, his lawyer, Benson Ndakara, pleaded with the court to admit him to bail in the most liberal terms.
In his ruling, Justice Osiagor admitted Akomolafe to bail in the sum of N10 million with one surety.
The judge also ordered that the surety must be a civil servant of an assistant director cadre in the employment of Lagos State or the Federal Government.
The trial was then adjourned to November 7, 2024. Based on their guilty plea, the court convicted and sentenced the trio of Babatunde Micheal Olufemi, Nwadozie Chris Amaechi, and Nwosu Chinedu Cyril, to four years on each count. The sentence is to run concurrently.
The three convicts were also given the option of paying a fine of N2 million each on each count.
In a related development, The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has suspended Akomolafe over his alleged involvement in multiple drug trafficking offences and his arraignment before a Federal High Court in Lagos.
A press statement on Wednesday by the spokesperson of NIS, Kenneth Udo, said the suspension was imposed on the erring officer as the Service awaited the judgement of the court for further action.
