NYSC member bagged 2-month jail term

…For possessing Indian hemp

A Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti has sentenced a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Samuel Udeh to two months imprisonment for possessing 50 grammes of Indian hemp.

The judge, Justice Adamu Hobon, sentenced the 26-year-old Udeh without an option of fine to serve as deterrent to others.

He said he had carefully considered the facts presented before the court by the prosecution and the plea of guilty by the convict and that he had also considered the quantity of the substance and therefore found the accused guilty.

However, the convict’s sentence would be deemed already served, as Justice Hobon said the jail terms would run from the day of arrest and detension by the police, that was November 19, 2012.

The prosecutor, Lirya Waji, had earlier told the court that Udeh was arrested November 19, 2012 with 50 grammes of the illicit drugs.

He said Udeh committed the offence at the NYSC orientation camp at the Emure Ekiti and that the offence contravened Section 11(c) of the National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, Law of the Federation of Nigerian, 2001.

The accused pleaded guilty to the once-count charge while his counsel, Cletus Nnechetta, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, saying that the convict registered his actions and that he could still be useful to the society as a member of the NYSC.