Kenyan Court Sentences Nigerian, Alabi Lateef, to Eight Years’ Imprisonment for ₦10.5m Drug Trafficking
A Nigerian national resident in Kenya, Alabi Lateef, has been sentenced to a minimum of eight years’ imprisonment following his conviction for trafficking narcotics valued at KSh 890,800 (approximately ₦10.5 million).
This sentencing comes less than a fortnight after similar reports emerged concerning Segun Ogundipe, a 33‑year‑old Nigerian who, in the United Kingdom, received a five‑year custodial term for rape and sexual assault committed against a woman in Gloucester.
According to a statement issued by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and reported by KDRT on Saturday, Lateef’s trial and conviction took place before the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya.
The court was informed that on 11 September 2017, within the General Post Office area of Nairobi’s Central Business District, the defendant was apprehended in possession of 75.4 grammes of cocaine with a street value of KSh 377,000.
On that same day, in the Mwiki area of Kasarani, he was further found in unlawful possession of 102.7 grammes of cocaine, assessed at KSh 513,800, which he was storing contrary to Kenyan narcotics legislation.
Presiding Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi imposed a sentence of eight years’ imprisonment on each of the two counts, ordering the terms to run concurrently. Her Honour held that the prosecution had discharged the burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
The prosecution, led by Wanjiru Naomi and Nyakira Kibera, called four witnesses whose oral and documentary evidence the court found credible and decisive in establishing the offences.
