By ALBERT AKPOR

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA has expressed worries over the low sentences usually passed on drug convicts by judges, saying the trend was encouraging illicit drug trafficking in the country. Aside that, the anti-drug agency said judges were equally trivializing drug offences by granting an ‘option of fine’ to suspects, adding that the action was capable of discouraging the fight against trafficking in hard drugs. Chairman of the agency, Mr. Ahmadu Giade who made this known while giving a breakdown of his agency’s activities in the year ended 2010 however, assured that his men would not be deterred by the vicious circle of arrest, arraigned, granted bail and back to business by drug traffickers. He announced that in spite of this shortcoming from the judiciary, NDLEA was able to successfully prosecute 1,509 cases against drug suspects. He said: “The prosecution result of 2010 was commendable. Through an established

culture of timely investigation, coupled with prompt and diligent prosecution, we were able to win 1, 509 cases. However, 793 cases were pending as at December 31, 2010, while 26 were discharged and acquitted. It is worthy of note that an accused named Edgar Abamu Joseph who was arrestedn at Illushi Town, Edo State with 504 kilograms of cannabis sativa was convicted and sentenced to 32 years imprisonment by the federal court, Benin”.

Continuing, the drug czar said: “The agency handled several cases whose appeal went to higher courts. These include the case of one Chukwudi Ugwanyi where the appellant was opposed to the 15 years imprisonment passed on him by the federal high court of Sokoto.