Court acquites bus driver charged with possession of Cannabis

By Moses Oyediran, Enugu

The Federal High Court sitting in Enugu has discharged and acquitted one Stanley Ogbodo, who was arrested with 399.8kg (about eight bags of cement) of Cannabis sativa.

The offence was allegedly committed in 2014 at the 9th Mile Corner, Ngwo Udi Local Council of Enugu state while on transit to Abakiliki, the Ebonyi state capital.

Ogbodo is a luxury bus driver with one of the major transport companies when the incident occurred.

Justice R. O. Dugbo-Oghoghorie in his judgment, said that the trial court appreciates the superlative issues raised by the defendant’s counsel, Sir O.A.U. Onyema.

The defence counsel had raised issues bordering on non-calling of vital witnesses, incomplete investigation, lack of ‘mens rea’ and ‘actus reus’ vis-a-vis the charge proffered against his client.

After adequate evaluation of all the exhibits tendered and evidence adduced during trial, and after correlating same with the final arguments of both the prosecution and the counsel to the accused, the court resolved in favour of the accused person.

The court therefore, held that the prosecution failed to discharge the burden of proof of the guilt of the accused person placed on them by law.

Flowing from that, the trial court ended the five-year- old legal tussle by pronouncing the accused not guilty as charged and consequently, discharged and acquitted him.