The High Court of Tanzania has
sentenced Mike Nwankwo, a clothing retailer in Abuja, Nigeria, to life in
prison after finding him guilty of drug trafficking, TheCitizen reports.
However, Judge Mohamed Gwae, who
heard the case, acquitted the first accused, Ms Mastura Makongoro, Nwankwo's
girlfriend, due to lack of evidence against her.
The verdict against Nwankwo and his
girlfriend was handed down on Friday where Judge Gwae said the testimony of
nine witnesses to the prosecution and 18 exhibits, confirmed the indictment
against the Nigerian citizen beyond any reasonable doubt.
The prosecution in the case was led
by state advocates from the National Prosecution Service (NPS), Ignas Mwinuka.
At the same time, Nwankwo was defended by advocate Diana Solomoni and Mastura
who was cleared was defended by advocate Modestus Njau.
According to the case, the
prosecution claimed that on February 12, 2014 at the Kilimanjaro International
Airport (KIA), the defendants were found transporting 5,126 grams of heroin to
Freetown, Sierra Leone.
It was reported that the defendants
were lovers. The first defendant, Ms Mastura, had asked his boyfriend Sh15
million for the construction of a house, and the latter replied that he would
find her a job that would provide her with the money. Then, the second
defendant assigned his girlfriend to transport a bag containing the drugs to
Sierra Leone.
On the day of their arrest, the
Nigerian national escorted his girlfriend to KIA where she entered and
underwent inspections and was given a boarding pass by Ethiopian Airline.
Upon completion, the defendant, who
was a student at Bandari College, went to sit in the waiting room and her bag
was sent to an Xray machine for inspection.
However, security officers became
suspicious and called the accused to reduce some of her belongings. It still was
heavier than the allowable luggage weight and the officers suspected something
was hidden.
Police officers decided to tear up
the bag and thus they came across four envelopes that contained the drugs and
in an initial questioning, the accused claimed the bag had been given to her by
her boyfriend.
The suspect was taken to the KIA
Police Station, and while she was being held there, the second accused returned
to the scene searching for his girlfriend after he suspected something was
wrong. While at the scene, the police suspected that he was the one mentioned
as the bag owner and arrested him.
Judge Gwae said he acquitted the
first defendant because in the way the drugs were stored in the bag, she would
not have been aware that there was anything extra in the bag.
0 Comments