Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced two Beninese nationals and two Nigerians to five years in prison each for smuggling 5.622 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria.
The convicts—Fanou Mireille (also known as Fanoun Mireille), Noudeha Hilda, Akande Olayemi (aka Akande Olayemi Babatunde), and Luadun Fadekemi—were arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on a three-count charge of conspiracy, trafficking, and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
They were convicted after pleading guilty to the charges.
According to the prosecution, led by Aondover Yuanyam, the convicts conspired with others still at large to smuggle cocaine valued at approximately N89.9 million through the Seme Border in Badagry, Lagos, on June 2, 2025.
Yuanyam presented the facts of the case and tendered the seized drugs as evidence. He urged the court to convict the defendants based on their admissions and the weight of the evidence, stressing the seriousness of the crime and the volume of drugs involved.
The defence counsel, Emmanuel Okenyi, pleaded for leniency, describing the defendants as first-time offenders who cooperated with the court by pleading guilty early. He appealed for a non-custodial sentence, noting that the convicts had expressed remorse and vowed to turn their lives around.
In his judgment, Justice Lewis-Allagoa sentenced each defendant to five years’ imprisonment but gave them an option of a N1 million fine each in lieu of jail time.
