The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has taken self-acclaimed High Priest Azuka Nnodu, the founder and General Overseer of Seraphic and Sabbath Assembly, alongside Udoka Udezuka and Obasi Oyoyo to the Federal High Court in Lagos. They were arraigned on six-count charges of conspiracy and drug trafficking involving 14.90 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa and 204 grams of Methamphetamine.
The prosecutor, Abu Ibrahim, accused the defendants of committing the offences with Chisom, who is currently at large, on February 9, 2023. The defendants were arrested with the drugs at the NAHCO Export Shed, a Customs Point at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja-Lagos.
Abu Ibrahim claimed that the defendants violated the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, under sections 14 (b), 21 (2)(d), and 20 (1)(a). These offences are punishable under sections 11(b) and 20 (2)(a) of the same Act.
The defendants pleaded guilty to all charges, following which the prosecutor reviewed the case’s facts with an NDLEA Exhibit keeper, Fredrick Atoni. He then urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants according to the sections of the law under which they were charged.
However, Chief Benson Ndakara, the defence lawyer, expressed surprise over the defendants’ pleas and requested that the court show mercy in sentencing the defendants, as they are first-time offenders without any previous convictions.
Justice Akintayo Aluko, after hearing both parties’ submissions, convicted all the defendants as charged. He ordered that they be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) until their sentencing, which he will announce later