POLITICS \ INTERVIEW
THURSDAY, OCTOber 20, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH
Why are you so passionate about the amendment of the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act? The involvement of Nigerians in the illicit global drug trade and the increase in domestic drug abuse by Nigerian youths is alarming. First, the bill was read for the first time on the floor of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly on May 31. The National Drug Enforcement Agency Act CAP N 30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 provides for stringent penalties for persons involved in the importation and exportation of hard drugs such as cocaine or heroin, sell or buy hard drugs or knowingly possess or use hard drugs. These penalties range from life imprisonment to 15 years, which is the minimum penalty.
Stiffer penalty’ll discourage drug trafficking – Ashafa A bill seeking stiffer penalty for drug traffickers is being sponsored by Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who is representing Lagos East Senatorial District in the National Assembly. He tells Muritala Ayinla why he is pushing for the passage of the bill, which recently scaled through second reading on the floor of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly. Excerpts: NDLEA officials at the gate of the Kano Prison and taken to Lagos to complete his initial jail term. This is the kind of problem created as many people believe that even if they are caught and sentenced to jail, they will be out in no time. The deterrent nature of the punishment, which the NDLEA Act seeks to provide, is therefore defeated.
Why do you think the drug offenders should be handed stiffer penalty? The Act specifically stipulates the maximum sentence of life imprisonment and minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment for the above-mentioned offences in the Act. There is nowhere in the provisions of the NDLEA Act that gives to the Judges discretionary power to reduce the minimum sentence stipulated in the Act. However, rather than a minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years or maximum term of imprisonment for life as stipulated in the Act, for some unknown reasons, some Judges of the Federal High Court have continued to pass varied and discretionary sentences short of the what is prescribed by the NDLEA Act. Perhaps, they are relying on the constitution for such judgements… No, not all! There is nowhere in the provisions of the NDLEA Act that gives to the Judges, discretionary power to reduce the minimum sentence stipulated in the Act. Recently, Malaysian authorities issued a strong statement that 40 per cent of foreigners arrested for drug offences are from Nigeria. So far, 30 out of 80 foreign students arrested in 2015 were Nigerians, in a country where drug trafficking attracts the supreme retribution. Apart from the cases in Malaysia and Indonesia, at least one Nigerian is on the death row in Singapore for drug-related offences. But the situation in China, which also punishes drug trafficking with death penalty, is alarming. Two Nigerians were executed in China in April 2015, but 120 other Nigerians are still on the death row for drug-related offenses, with 74 of them being held in Guandong and Guangxi provinces. Harm Reduction International (HRI), a United Kingdom based Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), said 33 countries impose the death penalty for drug related offenses. Do you think stiffer penalty and review of the anti-drug law will make a difference here in Nigeria? It will certainly make a difference and make the illicit business unattractive. Just allow me to provide you with some cases in which the Federal High Court has found accused persons guilty of an offence under the NDLEA Act and in clear disregard of the provisions of the NDLEA Act, lesser sentences were imposed. For instance, a welder, Shola Adeitan 32 and a scavenger, Bello Adam, 37, were sentenced to five and two
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years’ imprisonment respectively, for dealing in cocaine and marijuana. The judgement of the court was published online in Tribune Newspaper of September 27. There was also a case of a 19-year-old Pakistani, Iftikhar Arslan, who was in 2015, sentenced to 18 months in prison by a Justice of the Federal High Court, Lagos, for importing 25.4kg of heroin. This, again, was also published in Premium Times Online Newspaper of July 19, 2015. I am also aware of a 38-year-old businessman, Chibueze Onedigbo, who was in 2015, sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Federal High Court in Lagos for drug trafficking. The judgement of the court was also published in Premium Times Online Newspaper of November, 2, 2015. Worse still is the fact that when some of the Judges pass these light terms of imprisonment, the convicts in some cases are further given options of fines, which is only available for accused persons found guilty of obstruction of the agency or authorised officers, not for actual perpetrators of the offence. I have also read the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Commander in Abia, Mr Bamdele Akingbade, who, in an interview published disclosed that 22 accused persons were convicted by the Federal High Court for drug related offences. Amongst the 22 convicts, four of them were given an option of fine while 18 of them were sentenced
The purpose of the stiff punishment provided by the Act is to deter people from engaging in drug related activities
to serve between six months to five years in Jail. This, I think, is not what the Act stipulates as penalty for drug offenders. The purpose of the stiff punishment provided by the Act is to deter people from engaging in drug related activities. Where a person caught with cocaine is sentenced to few months’ imprisonment or given an option to pay a fine as can be seen in certain cases, one wonders what signal the country is sending to drug dealers and traffickers, their countries, our youths and the international community? The arbitrariness that is being perpetrated by the trial judges by not following the provisions of the NDLEA Act clearly can lead to corrupt practices. As a matter of fact, it only encourages illicit drug practices. How do you mean that it could encourage trafficking in drugs and lead to corruption? An example is the case of Ejike Martins, 53, which was published on May 18, 2015. Martins was arrested with 1kg of cocaine in 2005 at the Lagos airport by NDLEA officials on his way to Spain. He was charged to court and sentenced to two and half years in prison. He somehow got out of custody without fully serving his sentence. Three months later, he was arrested at the Kano airport with 4kg of cocaine and given a five year jail term. On completion of his jail term, Martins was re-arrested by
Beyond seeking amendment of the law, what better way do you think the problem could be addressed? Let’s have the Act amended first to serve as deterrent to other potential drug traffickers. You may have noticed that there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of drug couriers apprehended at our airports, this is a direct consequence of these illegal and unholy sentences adopted by some judges. The government or NDLEA could appeal these obvious cases of unwholesomeness being perpetrated by these judges, but the process is very long, tedious and expensive as the cases go right up to the Supreme Court, meaning that they could take up to seven to 10 years for final adjudication. So, the proposed amendment will close any loophole by having a clear, unambiguous and unequivocal provision that Judges cannot vary the sentences provided by the Act by reducing the penalties or giving option of fines which the NDLEA Act has not provided. This is because, as the news of these light sentences spread, more people are encouraged to go into the drug trade, hence the phenomenal rise in the number of youths engaged in the illicit abuse of narcotic substances and of course this also contributes to the negative image of our country in the international community. What other areas do you think worth amending in the NDLEA Act? There is equally a minor but significant error in the principal Act. The word “heroin” was misspelt as “heroine,” The two words means different things and are not synonymous. An amendment is therefore being proposed to change the word “heroine” which means a female protagonist in a work of fiction or female hero to “heroin” which means an addictive narcotic derived from morphine, which is intended in the Act. The last amendment being sought concerns the penalty for obstructing the agency or authorised officers of the agency in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on the agency. The principal Act imposes a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine of N20,000 or both. The amendment is seeking to increase the option of fine from N20,000 to N100,000 because the economic reality in Nigeria today has rendered the N20,000 fine paltry and unrealistic.