A Nigerian
pastor, one Mr Chukwudi Okechukwu, who preaches in Tanzania, under the umbrella
of the Lord Chosen Church of Nigeria, has reportedly bagged a 30-year jail term
after being convicted of smuggling cocaine worth Sh3.1 billion.
According to
reports, Okechukwu, who Anti-narcotics police allegedly believe is one of the
top members of a drug syndicate operating in Tanzania, Nigeria and South
Africa, was jailed alongside a South African, one Stan Hycent and Pakistani
Shoaib Mohammad Ayazi over the same offence.
High Court
Judge, Amir Mruma, reports say has ordered the accused to pay Sh9 billion in
fines.
He and his
three accomplices were reportedly hiding in a mansion in Dar es Salaam’s
Kuduchi Mtongani suburbs when the police allegedly surrounded the house and
arrested them.
Anti-narcotics
police had received information about foreigners who were planning to smuggle
into the country a huge quantity of cocaine and store it in a house in Kunduchi
Mtongani.
However, a
surveillance team led by head of Anti-Drugs Unit, ADU, Godfrey Nzowa, was
deployed to keep an eye on the mansion that the preacher and his accomplices
had rented.
The team had
purportedly knocked on the front gate in their bid to arrest the suspected drug
dealers.
Soon after the
police knocked on the gate and introduced themselves, reports further revealed
that the four suspects started running around the house in apparent fear and
panic.
There was an
alleged cat-and-mouse chase drama inside the compound as the police tried to
get hold of one of the suspects as he was attempting to jump over the fence.
Three suspects were arrested inside the house.
The Nigerian
suspect was reportedly the only one who managed to jump over the wall but was
arrested after a chase by the police.
Upon searching
the house, anti-drugs police allegedly seized 81 packets of drugs which were
later confirmed by a Chief Government chemist to be cocaine hydrochloride.
However,
intelligence report revealed he visited Tanzania some years back and had made a
name for himself as a pastor at his ‘Kinondoni Biafra’ church and won many
followers.
The head of
Anti-Drugs Unit, Nzowa, reportedly described their jailing as ‘another great
achievement’ in Tanzania’s efforts to fight drug trafficking.
“Unlike a gun
or pistol which kills people instantly, drugs are killing the young generation
slowly. If we are not aggressive in fighting the illicit trade we may find
ourselves losing the young generation,” he said.
Nzowa also
added that drug business was a threat to national security especially when
foreigners are left to operate in the country.
“The jailing
of the Nigerian pastor and his co-conspirators brought to three, the number of
high profile drug cases that have been heard and determined by the High Court
in the space of three months.
“Early in
September, the same court sentenced to 20 years a young Tanzanian, Fred William
Chonde, to 20 years in jail after it found him guilty of possessing 180kg worth
Sh 5.2 billion and ordered him to pay a Sh 15 billion fine,” Nzowa noted.
“Again last
month, the court sentenced a businessman, Kadiria Saidi Kimaro, who attempted
to smuggle 91 heroin capsules that he had swallowed, through Julius Nyerere
International Airport, JNIA, to 20 years in jail. He was also ordered to pay
Sh122 million in fine.”
Nzowa further
noted that the speed with which the Judiciary hears and determined the drug
cases has renewed hopes by anti-drugs campaigners who had accused courts of
mishandling drug cases.
“There has
been a concern that the way court handled drug trafficking cases might make it
easy for the convicts to later secure freedom or bail in what could be viewed
as disregard of the law,” he noted.
“Corruption
and influence peddling by highly placed individuals have been cited as one
factor that frustrates the war against traffickers.”
However, the
judiciary has repeatedly defended itself over the accusations, saying shoddy
police investigations and poor prosecution were to blame for the circumstance.
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