Nigerian man escapes noose after appeal court acquits him of importing 'Ice' into Singapore
SINGAPORE — A Nigerian man was spared the death sentence after the Court of Appeal on Monday (27 May) acquitted him of importing methamphetamine into Singapore.
The Apex court ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish that Adili Chibuike Ejike had known that the drug bundles in the suitcase were in his possession and reversed the death sentence imposed by the High Court in 2016.
Adili, then 28 years old, had entered Singapore on 13 November 2011 after taking a flight from Lagos, Nigeria. Upon arrival, his suitcase was placed through an X-ray machine and an image of dark density was observed on one side. Nothing was found on a physical search. After further inspection, the inner lining of the bag was cut and two packets wrapped in brown tape were found.
The white crystalline substance found within contained 1,961g of methamphetamine, commonly referred to as “Ice”.
The Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) provides for the death penalty if the amount of methamphetamine trafficked is above 250g. The court has the discretion not to impose the death sentence under specific circumstances. In Adili’s case, the High Court did not exercise the discretion.
Adili claimed that he had delivered the suitcase to Singapore after a childhood friend, Chiedu Onwuku, had agreed to help him financially. Chiedu was to lend a sum of between 200,000 and 300,000 naira (S$1145.72 based on current conversion) to Adili, who was then unemployed.
Sometime between August and October 2011, Chiedu visited Adili and took his passport without explanation. Chiedu told Adili to travel to Lagos, where Adili met another childhood friend, Izuchukwu Ibekwe. Izuchukwu arranged for Adili to travel to Singapore on 12 November 2011 and hand over a piece of luggage to someone upon arrival.
Convicted after trial
After a trial, a High Court judge rejected Adili’s defence that he did not know the bundles contained methamphetamine. The judge found Adili to be an unreliable witness due to the inconsistencies in the evidence he gave, including his statements and oral testimony. The High Court judge convicted Adili of his charge on 30 June 2016.
Delivering its judgement on Monday, the COA said that the prosecution could not invoke a section under the MDA to presume that Adili knew the existence of the drug bundles, when it had previously argued in the lower court and before the Apex court that Adili was not aware.
The prosecution’s case was that Adili had been “wilfully blind” to the existence of the drugs in the suitcase. It argued that Adili could have checked the unlocked case or with his childhood friends regarding its content.
For the prosecution to prove its case, it has to fulfil three elements of Adili's charge. They are that he was in possession of the drugs, had knowledge about the drugs, and that they were brought into Singapore without proper authorisation.
The Apex court - presided by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, and Justices of Appeal Andrew Phang and Judith Prakash - said that a person who is unaware that an item, which is later found to be a controlled drug, is in his possession cannot be proven to to be in possession of that item.
CJ Menon said, “However, it is clear to us that a person opening the case and checking through its contents would not have been able to discover the drug bundles, which were eventually found hidden within its inner lining.”
Since the prosecution accepted that Adili was not even informed of the existence of the drugs, it seemed “an obvious inference that (the two childhood friends) were intent on keeping the truth of the matter from (Adili)”, and would not have told him about the drugs even if he had asked, added the Chief Justice.
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