Three Kingpins, 16 Others Sentenced to 302 Years for Drug Trafficking

 

A Federal High Court has handed down a total of 302 years in prison sentences to three kingpins and 16 other offenders for trafficking and dealing in illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis, and opioids.

The convictions follow their arrest and diligent prosecution by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The announcement was made in a statement by the Director of Media & Advocacy at NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Friday in Abuja.

Babafemi noted that the 19 convicts topped the list of 414 drug traffickers and dealers convicted by the Federal High Courts in Benue, Bauchi, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between July 1st and 31st, 2024, based on charges filed by the anti-narcotics agency.

Among the three kingpins is 50-year-old Bolanle Lookman Dauda, who was apprehended in an intelligence-led operation by a special unit of the NDLEA at Ibiye, along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

Dauda was arrested while attempting to cross the border to Ghana with a consignment of drugs on May 25, 2024. At the time of 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, led to the discovery of an additional eight blocks of cocaine weighing 10 kilograms, bringing the total to 57.5 kilograms.

Dauda was arraigned before Hon. Justice Ambrose Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on charge number FHC/L/537C/2024 and sentenced to 21 years in prison or an option of a ₦30 million fine on July 19, 2024.

Another kingpin, 34-year-old Ikeh Stanley Ifeanyi, was arrested at the popular Idumota market in Lagos Island. NDLEA operatives recovered 1,100 ampoules of the lethal synthetic opioid fentanyl, weighing 6.48 kilograms, from him.

Fentanyl, a dangerous opioid 100 times more potent than heroin, is responsible for over 70% of overdose deaths in the United States. Ifeanyi was arraigned before Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on charge number FHC/L/433C/2024. On July 4, 2024, Justice Ogundare convicted him on two counts and sentenced him to 14 years in prison or an option of a ₦2 million fine.

In a similar case, Christian Anyanwu was arrested on November 26, 2022, with 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside custard tins packed among cosmetics and foodstuffs, destined for Brazil via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight. Anyanwu was arraigned before Justice Yellin Bogoro of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and later convicted on July 12, 2024. The judge sentenced him to 16 years in prison, with four years of mandatory imprisonment without the option of a fine.

Other notable convictions include Moses Yakubu, who received a 25-year sentence on July 22 from Justice Rita Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Abuja; Oluosun Okikiola, sentenced to 15 years in prison on July 17 by Justice A.A. Okeke of the Federal High Court, Abeokuta; Chanchan Terpase, who was sentenced to seven years in prison on July 9 by Justice R.J. Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Makurdi; and Beauty Gani, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison or an option of an ₦8 million fine on July 3, 2024, by Justice C.O. Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Benin.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers involved in the arrests and prosecutions, as well as the judiciary for their swift adjudication.

He stated that these sentences would further strengthen the agency’s efforts in reducing drug supply in Nigeria.