19-year-old Nigerian gets 4 months in rehab for tossing marijuana over prison walls

A Nigerian teenager has been remanded at a rehabilitation center for four months by a Federal High Court in the commercial capital, Lagos.

19-year-old Antonio Moshood’s offence was that he tossed a quantity of marijuana over the walls of a maximum security prison.

The Today news portal said Moshood pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges brought by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and was convicted on his own plea.

In delivering his judgment, Justice Ibrahim Buba, considered his age and thus remanded him for three months in a rehabilitation center before he is transferred to a month in NDLEA custody to receive counseling.

According to the prosecutor, Moshood on April 14 threw a wrap of indian hemp over the walls of the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons. The 3.3kg package was said to be for the benefit of a detainee.

Nigeria’s laws on drug trafficking provides for a term of life imprisonment, if a person is found guilty of drug trafficking according the provisions of Section 11( c ) of the NDLEA Act, Laws of the Federation, 2004.

The Kirkiri Maximum security prison is one of the most famous detention facilities in Africa’s most populous nation. It was established in 1955 and is known for its overcrowding. Some death row inmates are held there.

Photo credit: Today.ng