Two sisters, Shade Oyetobi,24, and Atinuke Adebanwo,32, were arrested on Wednesday by officers of the Nigerian Prison Services while attempting to smuggle 11 wraps of marijuana into the Ikeja Lagos State High Court holding cell for awaiting trial inmates.
The sisters, who said they are orphans, brought in the substance for their brother, Babatunde Oyetobi, who is an awaiting trial inmate, arrested during a street fight about two years ago.
The two sisters, who were handcuffed, said they had contributed money to hire a lawyer for their brother, adding that they had been coming to court regularly to stand by him since his trial started.
Shade confessed that the marijuna were handed over to her by one Jamiu, her brother's friend.
But their elder sister, Adebanwo, married with three kids, said she was not privy to the arrangement.
Crying profusely she lamented that her sister had put her in trouble. Facing her sister, Adebanwo said, “Oh my God, I don’t know that it is a crime to have the two of you as my siblings. Is it a crime to stand by you after the death of our parents?
“I don’t know anything about this whole thing. Please ask her; I am even sick, I was supposed to go for my treatment this morning.”
Sade however insisted she didn't know the substance was marijuana. She said, “Actually, it was my brother’s friend, Jamiu, who sells watches that gave the stuff to me this morning for my brother.
“Jamiu called me on the telephone and gave me the drug. I don’t know where they sell marijuana, I don’t know how much they sell it and I don’t smoke.”
Speaking with Punch, the warder, Mr. A. R. Muhammed, who arrested the sisters, said the marijuana wraps were hid inside a black nylon bag and concealed with a pair of slippers.
Muhammad said, “We demanded to know their mission as they were coming in and they told us they wanted to see their brother. We asked to see what was in the black polythene bag, but they said it was a pair of slippers. When we demanded to see the slippers, the younger sister became guarded.
“At that point, we ordered them to walk out if they were not willing to show us the slippers; but we became suspicious when they chose to walk out without seeing their brother rather than show us what was in the nylon bag. That was why we insisted on checking the bag, only to discover that they were trying to smuggle marijuana into the cell.”
Sadly, the elder sister is now being held with the younger sister.
What kind of judicial system keeps someone in custody without trial for 2 years over a street fight?
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