Kuala Lumpur (AFP) – An Australian nurse and a Nigerian man face the possibility of death by hanging after a Malaysian court on Tuesday charged them with trafficking methamphetamines. Emma Louise L’Aiguille, 34, was charged in a Kuala Lumpur court along with Anthony Esikalam Ndidi two weeks after police said they were arrested in possession of one kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of methamphetamine. L’Aiguille entered the court in tears and spoke briefly to Australian High Commission officials before sitting in the dock, hunched over in distress, for the hearing. No plea was recorded but the Australian’s lawyer said she was innocent and was slapped once by a Malaysian police officer during interrogations. Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death sentence by hanging in Malaysia, where hundreds of people are on death row, mostly for drug offences. Anyone found to be in possession of at least 50 grams of methamphetamine is considered a trafficker. L’Aiguille, from Melbourne, was in a car with her co-defendant when police arrested them, attorney Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters after the court appearance. Police told L’Aiguille, who had been driving, that drugs were later found in the car, he said. Muhammad Shafee said two other Nigerians — L’Aiguille’s boyfriend and another man — had also been in the car but had left the vehicle just prior to the arrests. Police are currently searching for the boyfriend, he added. “She is completely depressed. She just does not understand how all this could happen to her. She was just driving the car,” Muhammad Shafee said. He said L’Aiguille was a nurse who was in Malaysia as a tourist and had visited the country several times over the past two years. He complained that defence lawyers were only allowed one ten-minute meeting with her before the court appearance. The next court appearance was set for October 1. Pleas are not normally heard at the time defendants are charged. No further details were immediately available on the Nigerian defendant as he was not represented by legal counsel at the hearing. In March, Australian Dominic Jude Christopher Bird, 32, was charged with drug trafficking. The truck driver from Perth in Western Australia was arrested on March 1 in Kuala Lumpur in possession of 225 grams of methamphetamine. The case is still in the courts. Since 1960, more than 440 people have been executed in Malaysia, including two Australians put to death in 1986 for heroin trafficking that made headlines as they were the first Westerners to be executed under tough new anti-drug laws.

“Ramadan has crippled business,” prostitutes lament

Commercial sex workers, otherwise known as prostitutes are angry, their anger, we gathered is not unconnected with the ongoing Ramadam fasting being embarked on by Muslim faithful across the country.
According to those in the business of bed-to-wealth, the fasting period has crippled their business. When Dailypost visited one of their bases in Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos, the visibly angry ladies were seen siting at different locations, discussing their fate.
On enquiry, a lady identified as Rose from Edo lamented, “Oga, since morning, na only one person I don do, unlike before, I for don do like 16 or so. Na Raamadam . ” She said.
When prodded further, the enraged lady said, “Oga I no come count bridge for Lagos, if u wan support my ministry tell me, I go ‘do’ you well.”
In Ikotun, prostitutes lamented that their customers no longer pick their calls, “since Ramadan fasting started, my regular customer, Waidi refused picking my calls, and its painful and unfair. They should consider our own side too”, said Joy, a native of Akwa Ibom.
When asked about her service, the fair-complexion lady who said she’s a drop out of Delta State University, said, “it depends, at times, most of these big men don’t negotiate, if you do them well, they can give you even 50k per night. Now we don’t have choice because of  Ramadan, we can agree for even 200 for a round.
Our efforts to reach the president, National Association of Nigerian Prostitutes (NANP), Lagos state chapter were fruitless as the lady was said to have travailed out of the country.