The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced 38-year-old South African woman, Will Jessica Ann, to 25 years in prison for unlawfully importing 5.75 kilogrammes of her%in into Nigeria through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu sentenced Ann to 15 years on Count 1 and 25 years on Count 2, with both sentences running concurrently, meaning she will serve 25 years in prison.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had arraigned Ann in August after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy and unlawful importation of her%in. She was arrested on July 6 during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha while travelling with her three-year-old son.
The NDLEA said two suitcases containing 14 large blocks of her%in were found after baggage tags on the bags were matched with claim tags attached to Ann’s passport. She initially denied travelling with checked-in luggage but later admitted owning the bags, claiming she had forgotten she checked them in.
Ann told the court she was remorseful, promised not to commit such an offence again and claimed she did not know there were illicit dr£gs in the bags.
The judge noted that Ann had admitted committing the offence in her extrajudicial statement and said a guilty plea leads to conviction. He also stressed that the law is not influenced by emotions and stated that “crime does not pay.”
The prosecution had urged the court to consider the value of her%in, estimated at about ₦18 million per kilogramme, when sentencing her.
The NDLEA had also alleged that Ann was a member of a transnational dr¥g trafficking organisation with her husband/partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, operating from Cambodia along the Cambodian-South African axis. Upon arraignment, Ann admitted conspiring with De Jager in the offence.
The court further ordered that the seized her%in be destroyed if Ann does not appeal within the period allowed by law.
