Court
This was revealed by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, in a statement issued yesterday.
Babafemi explained that the convictions followed the arrests and diligent prosecution of the offenders by the agency.
According to the statement, these 19 convicts are among 414 drug traffickers and dealers convicted by the Federal High Court across Benue, Bauchi, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja between July 1 and 31, 2024.
The charges were filed against them by the anti-narcotics agency EKO HOT BLOG reports.
One of the three kingpins, 50-year-old Bolanle Lookman Dauda, was arrested during an intelligence-led raid by a special operation unit of the NDLEA at Ibiye, along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
Drug kingpin
Babafemi noted that Dauda was attempting to cross the land border to deliver a drug consignment in Ghana on Saturday, May 25, 2024, when he was apprehended. During his arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were found on him.
A subsequent search of his residence at Plot 24/25 OPIC Extension, Petedo Road, Agbara, Ogun State, uncovered an additional eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total cocaine seizure to 57.5 kilograms. Dauda was later arraigned before Justice Ambrose Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, where he was sentenced to 21 years in prison or an option of a N30 million fine.
The second kingpin, 34-year-old Ikeh Stanley Ifeanyi, was arrested at the Idumota market in Lagos Island. Authorities recovered 1,100 ampoules of the lethal synthetic opioid fentanyl, weighing 6.48 kilograms.
Babafemi stated that this dangerous opioid, which is 100 times more potent than heroin, is currently responsible for over 70% of overdose deaths in the U.S. and is a major contributor to fatal and non-fatal overdoses. Ifeanyi was subsequently arraigned before Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and on July 4, 2024, was sentenced to 14 years in prison or an option of a N2 million fine.
In the third case, Christian Anyanwu was arrested on November 26, 2022, with 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside custard tins among cosmetics and foodstuffs destined for Brazil via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight. Anyanwu was later convicted by Justice Yellin Bogoro of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on July 12, 2024, and sentenced to 16 years in prison, four of which must be served without the option of a fine.
Other individuals sentenced in July for drug trafficking include Moses Yakubu, who received 25 years in prison on July 22 by Justice Rita Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Abuja; Oluosun Okikiola, who was sentenced to 15 years on July 17 by Justice A. A Okeke of the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, Ogun State; Chanchan Terpase, who was sentenced to seven years by Justice R.J Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Makurdi, Benue State, on July 9; and Beauty Gani, who was sentenced to 30 years or an option of an N8 million fine by Justice C.O. Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Benin, Edo State, on July 3, 2024.
The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers and men involved in these cases and praised the judiciary for their speedy adjudication. He noted that these convictions would further strengthen the agency’s efforts to reduce the supply of illicit drugs.
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