2 jailed for unlawful possession of elephant tusks, pangolin scales

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, convicted and sentenced two men, John Kanu and Obinna Eze, to four years imprisonment, for conspiracy and unlawful possession of 839.4kg of pangolin scales and 145kg of elephant tusks.

Kanu and Eze were jailed by Justice Nicholas Oweibo after they pleaded guilty to the charges made against them by the Federal Operation Unit, Zone A, of the Nigeria Customs Service, Lagos.

The two convicts were arraigned alongside Anthony Onyebuchi and Monday Nnamanni, in an amended charge.

The convicts and the two men had pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were formerly arraigned before the court.

However, at the resumed hearing of the charge, yesterday, the two convicts informed the court of their intention to change their plea, which was granted by the court.

The convicts and others were arrested as a result of a joint wildlife  enforcement operations by Nigeria Customs and Wildlife Justice Commission, WJC, targeting illegal wildlife traders and traffickers from Africa to Asia.

Following the new development, the trial judge ordered that the amended charge be read to them.

The two convicts pleaded guilty to the charge, while Anthony Onyebuchi and Monday Nnamanni pleaded not guilty to the charges, when it was read to them.

With the convicts’ guilty plea, the prosecutors, Mr. David Ereh, Michael Osong and Abidemi Aluko, while reviewing the case of the charge, told the court that the convicts and others on February 2, 2022, conspired among themselves to warehoused the prohibited items, at Adeba in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.

The prosecutors urged the court to convict those that pleaded guilty to the charges and sentence them according to the sections of the laws that they were charged with while also asking the court for trial date against those that pleaded not guilty.

But their lawyer, Mr. Chukwu Agwu, in his allucutor, pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy, in sentencing his clients.

In his judgment, Justice Oweibo sentenced the two convicts to two years each on count one and two, while he pardoned them on count three.

The judge has adjourned till September 28, for the trial of the remaining two defendants.

Culled from Vanguard

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