A Federal High Court in Lagos state has convicted Nigerian skit maker Joshua Sunday, profoundly called DeGeneral, of drug trafficking.
The social media influencer was arraigned to court alongside a cinematographer, Caleb William, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The 22-year-old defendants were charged with three counts of trafficking Tramadol and Cannabis Sativa after NDLEA had arrested them on January 12, 2022 for illegally dealing in 15g of Cannabis and 14g of tramadol in Lekki area of Lagos State.
The duo pleaded guilty to the charge, told the court that they’ve never tasted drugs. They declared that the substances were props for their comedy skit, which they were about shooting before being arrested.
The Defence Counsel, Lilian Omotunde, urged the court to consider other options besides sentencing the defendants, on the grounds that the defendants were still at their prime and could still be useful to society.
Justice Osiagor, on Monday, January 24, 2022, while delivering judgement, held that the volume of substance was minimal and would rather convict the defendants and caution them, rather than sentence them.
The court convicted the defendants and cautioned them to “go and sin no more”.