South Africa returnee jailed for 38 years for drug trafficking

A South Africa returnee identified as Raji Issa Adio was on Tuesday October 29, handed a 38-year jail sentence after being found guilty of drug trafficking. 

The 43-year-old convict who has been on trial for one year and 11 months, was found guilty of three counts of conspiracy and unlawful possession of 5.10 kilogrammes of heroin which were concealed under his two traveling bags in form of false buttons.

Adio’s jail sentence of 15 years on counts one and three and eight years imprisonment on count two, will run concurrently; meaning he will only spend 15 years in jail. He was also given an option of N1.5 million fine on counts one and three respectively, but no option of fine on count two.

Delivering judgment on the charges, Justice Chuka Obiozor held that: “The prosecution has been able to establish all the allegations as contained in the charge against the convict beyond reasonable doubt.”

Justice Obiozor pronounced that the convict’s jail terms will start counting from September 3, 2017 when he was arrested during an inward clearance of a South Africa Airways flight to Lagos at the E-Arrival Hall of the Murtala Mohammad international Airport Ikeja, Lagos.