A Federal High Court in Lagos State in Nigeria on Thursday sentenced 20 Ghanaian fishermen to one-year imprisonment each for transporting 13.670 kilogrammes of marijuana, aka cannabis, from Ghana to Nigeria.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo convicted and sentenced them after finding them guilty of the charges of conspiracy and unlawful transportation of the drug, reports the Punch.
They were sentenced on Thursday, August 4, 2022.
The convicted fishermen include Francis Teye, Kweke Komel, Gad Adjah, Theophilus Tetteh, Kwesi Aboagye, Ekon Fynn, Kwamena Baah, Kwabina Adjei, Micheal Okutu, Isaac Kofi, Kweku Moko, Kwezi Adzi and Kweku Mensah.
Others are Micheal Kofi, Ekon Bentum, Kwesi Amissah, Joshua Huago, Otu Otipeseku, Isaac Yorsson and Nana Kodwo.
The convicts were arrested with the drug conveyed from Ghana into the Nigerian territorial waters on January 14, 2022.
They were arraigned on two counts of conspiracy and unlawful transportation of the substance.
The prosecutor, Mr Fingere Owen, told the court that the offences were contrary to and punishable under sections 11(b) and 14(b) of the Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
The defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.
Following their guilty pleas, the prosecutor reviewed the facts of the case.
Owen also tendered some exhibits and urged the court to convict and sentence them in accordance with the sections they were charged with.
