Court jails South African woman for 25 years for importing 5.75kg of heroin into Nigeria

Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a 38-year-old South African woman, Will Jessica Ann, to 25 years in prison for smuggling 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria.

The offending drug was brought into Nigeria through Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

Justice Egwuatu passed the sentence on Thursday, stressing that Nigerian law does not respect emotions.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arraigned the woman before the Federal High Court in Abuja, where she pleaded guilty to unlawfully importing 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into the country on July 6.

Though the convict, who came into the courtroom with her three-year-old boy, wept bitterly and pleaded for clemency, the judge held that justice must take its course.

Passing the sentence, Justice Egwuatu held that, prior to her guilty plea, the defendant had admitted to committing the offence in her extrajudicial statement.

He added that the law is settled that a conviction follows a plea of guilty.

The judge subsequently convicted her of the offence.