A Lagos Federal High Court has sentenced businessman and G Care Pharm Limited Chief Executive Officer, Megwalu Chukwudi Bob-Manuel, to four years in prison over the attempted illegal exportation of 8.30kg of Raphnol, a controlled psychotropic substance.
Justice Akintayo Aluko handed down the sentence after Megwalu Chukwudi Bob-Manuel pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful procurement and exportation of the substance.
The judge ordered that the four-year terms on the two counts should run concurrently and count from the date of his arrest.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency prosecution told the court that Bob-Manuel committed the offences on July 24, 2026, at the NAHCO Export Shed, a Customs facility at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
According to the prosecution, the substance was discovered during the examination of a consignment bound for Nairobi, Kenya.
Bob-Manuel was accused of procuring the services of Justina, of Tina Travels Service Limited, and Anosie Ebube, of Fair Express, to facilitate the exportation of the 8.30kg consignment.
He was also accused of attempting to personally export the controlled substance to Kenya without lawful authority.
The prosecution said the offences violated provisions of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act.
Following his guilty plea, prosecutor Arit N. Okon reviewed the facts of the case and tendered the relevant exhibits before asking the court to convict and sentence the businessman.
But Bob-Manuel’s lawyer, Chief Benson Ndakara, assisted by Kate Igbo, urged the court to temper justice with mercy.
The defence described Bob-Manuel as a first-time offender with no previous conviction and asked the court to consider his guilty plea and the fact that he had not wasted the court’s time.
The lawyer also urged the court to impose a non-custodial sentence where possible.
Justice Aluko, after considering the quantity of the controlled substance and the mitigating factors presented by the defence, imposed four years imprisonment on each of the two counts.
The terms, however, are to run concurrently.
The court also granted a fine option of N1 million in lieu of the prison sentence, following the defence’s plea.
The case was filed as Charge No. FHC/L/CR/661/2026.
The two counts centred on the unlawful procurement and attempted exportation of 8.30kg of Raphnol from Nigeria to Nairobi, Kenya, without lawful authority.
Read Also: Trial of Billionaire Chief Ukatu Afamefuna Mallinson for drug trafficking begins
