Drug dealer bags 35-year jail term

According to a punch report, the Kaduna State Command of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Thursday said it had secured the conviction of a drug dealer for a 35-year jail term. The command, which said a Federal High Court in Kaduna gave the verdict also said 21 others, including a 68-year-old drug dealer were also convicted in March this year. The Head of the Kaduna State command of the agency, Mr. Mohammed Jibrin, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Kaduna that Ojebou, had eluded arrest for many years. “We got a landmark judgment on one notorious drug dealer, Davidson Ojebou, who was caught with 640kg of cannabis sativa. He was jailed for 35 years by the Federal High Court, Kaduna. “It is a landmark judgment because the highest we expect you can get for life imprisonment is 25 years. But because of the antecedent of the suspect, he was given 35 years imprisonment.’’ Similarly, Jibrin said another notorious drug dealer in Samaru Zaria, Muntari Hassan, 68, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He said Hassan had been caught several times and had served jail terms three times before his recent arrest and conviction. “A notorious drug dealer in Zaria, Muntari Hassan, 68 years old, who has been to jail three times in the past for drug trafficking was re-arrested by us, for still dealing in cannabis in spite of the jail terms he had served in the past. “As such we prosecuted him again and the judges took note of his unrepentant nature and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment.’’ He also said that the agency had successfully prosecuted 20 other cases in Kaduna State. He told NAN that the state government had inaugurated a joint task force, comprising all heads of security agencies under his chairmanship to complement the role of the NDLEA in the fight against drug abuse. “The task force is to carry out operations to reduce the menace of hard drug abuse and trafficking in the state. “As such it will carry out operations with the aim of arresting drug dealers, dismantling drug joints and seizing illicit drugs that are being rampantly abused and trafficked in the state. The task force was set up to complement the efforts of NDLEA.’’ According to him, no fewer than 50 people have been arrested in some black spots in the state while over 200 kg of cannabis and 73 kg of psychotropic substances were seized in March. Jibrin further said that the agency, through the combined efforts of all security agencies, had arrested seven major cocaine dealers within the Kaduna metropolis. He said the cocaine dealers, who were armed, were overpowered by the joint task force. The NDLEA chief reiterated the commitment of the agency to combat the menace of drug addicts and dealers as part of the efforts to reduce crime rate in the state.