Lovembe pleaded guilty to the charges before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Daniel Ogembo/CFM NEWS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 21 – An alleged Nigerian drug lord has been jailed for three years by a Nairobi Court for being in the country illegally and contravening an order that declared him an illegal immigrant.
Emmanuel Lovembe pleaded guilty to the charges before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Daniel Ogembo.
The West African was deported from the country in 2013 following a presidential order declaring him and Anthony Chinedu illegal immigrants.
In mitigation, Lovembe pleaded for leniency and urged the court to deport him to his motherland saying he is a father of two and the sole breadwinner.
But the magistrate rejected his prayer saying the offence he was facing is serious considering the current security situation in the country.
“The accused has proved that he does not respect the rule of law,” he ruled.
Lovembe was arrested in Kayole on September 29, 2016 after sneaking back into the country.
Separately, an anti-corruption court has acquitted a former National Housing Corporation (NHC) boss and five other senior officials facing anti-corruption related charges.
Trial Magistrate Felix Kombo freed James Ruitha alongside Company Secretary Elizabeth Mbugua, Finance Manager Manassseh Wandabwa, the Technical Manager Bernard Ogolla, Legal Officer William Keitany and Chief Estates Officer John Agutu for lack of evidence.
The suspects had been charged with illegally allocating their spouses houses by failing to disclose their private interests, and abuse of office.
They were accused of allocating and selling houses built by the State corporation to their wives and friends, the anti-corruption court was told during the hearing.
According to the magistrate, evidence adduced in court by 21 prosecution witnesses did not meet the threshold required to convict them.
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