Nigeria Abroad
A Malaysian federal court yesterday affirmed the death penalty imposed on a 71-year-old Pakistani ex-rickshaw driver, while two Nigerians escaped the gallows for trafficking methamphetamine in three separate cases.
The Nigerians, one of them married to a local, had their charges reduced to possession and pleaded guilty to the offence.
A three-member bench, chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, dismissed Pakistani Akhlaq Hussain’s appeal for trafficking nearly 1.3kg of methamphetamine.
“We are unanimous that the conviction by the trial judge is safe,” said Tengku Maimun, who sat with Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Nallini Pathmanathan.
The man was found with the drugs at KLIA’s arrival terminal in Sepang at 9.45pm on Feb 17, 2013.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Act, anyone in possession of 50gm or more of the drug is deemed to be a trafficker.
Akhlaq was caught with the drugs strapped to his calves upon inspection by narcotics officials at the airport.
His court-assigned counsel, Anita Vijaya Raja, told the bench Akhlaq did not have knowledge that he was carrying drugs.
“The person who asked him to carry the drugs told him that it was saffron and asked him to conceal it as it was a taxable item in Malaysia,” said Anita.
Deputy public prosecutor How May Ling told the bench the drug was not for personal consumption but for distribution.
The same bench, according to Free Malaysia Today, sentenced 35-year-old Prince Uzoma Nwaoguegbe for possessing 2kg of methamphetamine at the same airport at 10pm on Nov 3, 2013.
Tengku Maimun said there was merit in the appeal and the conviction by the High Court was not safe.
Prince, who was represented by Geethan Ram Vincent, was sentenced to 15 years’ jail and ordered to be whipped 10 times.
Deputy public prosecutor Nik Syahril Nik Ab Rahman pressed for a deterrent sentence in public interest.
“The drugs found in a bag carried by the appellant weighs 16 times more than the minimum weight for a trafficking charge,” he said.
Prince had arrived in Malaysia as a student to study Chinese at a private college.
In the third case, Anyim Daniel Ikechukwu was sentenced to 13 years and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan for trafficking nearly 1.5kg of methamphetamine at Jalan Selat 14 in Port Klang at about 5.30pm on Sept 30, 2015.
At the outset of the proceedings, deputy public prosecutor Natra Dollah consented to a proposal by Anyim’s lawyer, Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi, to have the charge reduced to possession.
Facts revealed Anyim, 41, was a student and was married to a local woman when he committed the offence.
