The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has secured major convictions, with the Federal High Court in Lagos and Yola, Adamawa State, sentencing 4 drug kingpins to a total of 95 years in prison for trafficking of cocaine and skunk worth over ₦4.6 billion.
The convicts are Ogbuji Christian Ifeanyi, Iloduba Augustine Chinonye, Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (a.k.a Don) and Zidon Zurga.
Ogbuji was intercepted by operatives of NDLEA at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines flight passengers from Addis Ababa to Lagos for importing 817 wraps of cocaine weighing 19.40 kilograms with an estimated street value of ₦4,656,000,000.
The Director, Media & Advocacy of the Agency, Femi Babafemi disclosed this in a statement made available to Thelensng on Friday.
The statement partly reads: “That was barely 16 months after the 48-year-old businessman was arrested and convicted for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine. He was first arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, on Wednesday 10th May 2023 upon arrival from Uganda via Addis Ababa, onboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951 for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.986kg.
“He was subsequently arraigned before Federal High Court 12 Abuja presided over by Hon. Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/192/2023 and convicted on 13th July 2023. Ogbuji was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of paying a fine of Three Million Naira (N3,000,000.00), which he paid and was set free.
“Not done with crime, Ogbuji was again arrested at the Lagos airport with the large consignment of cocaine on 18th September 2024, after which he was arraigned before Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court Lagos in charge number: FHC/L/845C on 16th January 2025. He was eventually sentenced on 28th February to five years imprisonment on count one with an option of seven million naira fine and 10 years imprisonment on count two without an option of fine. In the event that he failed to pay the N7million fine, the judge ruled that the convict will serve a total of 15 years in jail consecutively. The court ordered the forfeiture of monetary exhibits and other items found on him at the time of his arrest.”
Babafemi noted that Iloduba was arrested by the agency’s operatives on new year eve, December 31, 2021, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for cocaine trafficking.
He revealed that Iloduba was found to have ingested 58 wraps of the illicit drug, 48 of which he excreted on transit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia while he expelled the other 10 in NDLEA custody after his arrest on January 1, 2022.
“He was thereafter arraigned on two counts in charge number FHC/EN/CR/18/2022 before Justice Folashade Giwa Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Enugu.
“After three years of diligent prosecution, Iloduba was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment on each count, bringing his total years in jail to 10 years, which will run concurrently from the date of his conviction, Wednesday 5th March 2025.”
Similarly, Isa, 55, and Zurga, 50, were apprehended by NDLEA operatives on November 25, 2024 along Numan-Yola road with 500.800kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed in a pilot Toyota Hilux vehicle marked Lagos NT 829 AAA and a Prado SUV with a fake presidency number plate 01B-266 FG.
The spokesperson said that they were later arraigned before Justice Bala Usman in charge number: FHC/YL/150 /2024 and convicted on February 7, 2025, to 35 years imprisonment each on two counts, bringing the combined years in jail for both of them to 70 years or pay a fine of ₦25 million each.
“The court also ordered the interim forfeiture of the two jeeps used in trafficking the illicit drug consignment,” he added.
Reacting to the conviction of the quartet, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the trial courts, the teams of officers who investigated and prosecuted the three cases at the MMIA Strategic Command in Lagos, AIIA Special Area Command, Enugu and the Adamawa State Command for their diligence and professionalism.
He further stated: “The conviction and the forfeiture of the convicts’ instruments of crime will further strengthen the deterrent effect of our ongoing effort to totally dismantle every drug network in the country.”
