A 23 year-old Nigerian student of a private college in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was sentenced to death by hanging after he was found guilty of trafficking in 16,936gm of cannabis 2 years ago.
As reported by NewStraitsTimes, the Judicial Commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against John Amaechi Eze.
In his judgment, Zaki said the accused claimed he was waiting to board an express bus at a restaurant in front of the Lye Huat Garden hall when he was arrested by police. However, he said the court did not believe his claim that he did not own the luggage when witnesses had testified that he was with the luggage all the time.
His sentencing has elicited a range of reactions and warnings to Nigerians against trafficking drugs in countries where the stated penalty for such an offence is the death sentence.
Malaysia is a tightly controlled society where the authorities decide what business prospers, whether legal or illegal. Elements within the police control the drug trade, the distributors are under their command and they arrest them when it's politically needed to unite the country against a common enemy. We hear of stories of Iranian and Arab drug traffickers who are quietly deported and warned never to return to Malaysia but other nationalities are shown off as trophy in front of news men who broadcast and publish sensational news headlines. South-east Asian countries are united against drug trafficking and they hold meetings regularly to discuss new strategies on deterrent, Death (rolls eyes). So, it baffles me why people still take the risks John Amaechi Eze was sentenced on January 22; a British Grand mother Lindsay Sandiford was also sentenced to death on the same day in Indonesia. In the year 2008, two Nigerians were executed in Indonesia and one in Singapore.
Nigerians, please stop trying to bring drugs into Malaysia.
Source: Bellanaija.com, January 23, 2013
