Posted by By OLA AGBAJE on
Star actress Akinwande Taiwo Hassanat, (a.k.a Wunmi) yesterday bagged three years jail term for attempting to export 1.214 kg of cocaine.
Star actress Akinwande Taiwo Hassanat, (a.k.a Wunmi) yesterday bagged three years jail term for attempting to export 1.214 kg of cocaine.
Justice Ahmed Muhammed of the Federal High Court Lagos who handed her the sentence however, gave the convict an option to pay N1 million fine in lieu of going to jail.
Wunmi was arrested on September 23, 2006 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport while boarding a Virgin Atlantic aircraft US 652 enroute London.
There was spontaneous celebration of joy among her co-actors and actresses who had thronged the court early in the morning in apparent show of solidarity with their colleague.
Before sentencing the convict, the trial judge regretted that she had by her conduct brought shame upon herself and failed the society that looked up to her as model.
"Let me observe that it is sad that the convict is an actress who is supposed to be a role model for the society, especially her numerous fans.
"Whatever is said on the allocutus is just by the way sad. Her travail at best could be described as self-inflicted.
"Whatever sentence is passed on her today, as from today she will carry on with the stigma of ex-convict," he said.
Before the court imposed the sentence, Wunmi's counsel, Benson Ndakara made a spirited effort pleading the sympathy and compassion of the court for his client in an emotional allocutus.
Ndakara urged the court to be lenient with the actress on the ground that she was a first offender who out of conviction decided to enter a plea of guilty and thereby saved precious time of the court.
"The jurisprudence of sentencing is not for punishment but to reform. I urge the court to award a reformatory punishment. From my interaction with her, she has told me she would never go to the crime that brought her here or any other crime.
"Let me say that the convict has been abandoned. We pray that the court will not abandon the convict. She is a single mother. Even her very source of livelihood as an actress is being threatened," Ndakara said.
Consequently, the lawyer urged the court to use its discretionary power under the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) section 382 (1) which gave the court power to impose fine where the law did not state specific punishment.
Earlier, the prosecution in compliance with its promise last week tendered samples of the narcotics found on Wunmi, the forensic analysis report, certificate of test analysis receipt of seizure, and the convict's three statements. All the items were admitted as exhibits.
Throughout the proceedings, Wunmi was calm and apparently subdued until the interpreter told her in Yoruba that she had been sentenced to three years. She was jolted but showed relief when informed about the option of fine.