NDLEA Arrests Nollywood Filmmaker Over Large Consignment Of Illicit Drugs
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have arrested a US-trained Hollywood and Nollywood filmmaker over a consignment of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, weighing 17.30 kilograms.
NDLEA’s Head of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi made this known in a statement on Sunday.
TheFactDaily learns that the filmmaker, Emeka Emmanuel Mbadiwe, who is also a motivational speaker, was arrested on Friday, 27th December 2024, at his Lekki Hotel room following the arrest of his partner, Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James, who was arrested earlier the same day at a warehouse in Ajao estate Ikeja, where he was sent by Mbadiwe to collect the shipment.
Operatives also arrested a wanted drug kingpin and Lagos socialite, 61-year-old Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye on Wednesday 1st January 2025 in her mansion at Okota area of Lagos, following the interception of a truckload of illicit drug consignment from her staff on the same day.
Babafemi disclosed that Elediye, who is known in the drug underworld as “Iya Ruka”, has had her true identity shrouded in mystery for years while she remained on the wanted list of NDLEA for leading one of the drug cartels operating from Mushin area of Lagos.
Her cover was however blown on Wednesday 1st January 2025, when NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence intercepted a white Isuzu truck carrying 44 jumbo sacks containing 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis, and driven by one of her staff, identified as Abideen Adio.
Following Adio’s arrest, the operatives stormed Elediye’s hideout at 33 Adebayo Oyewole street, off Ago Palace way, Okota, where they arrested her.
On the surface, Alhaja Ajoke is a businesswoman who imports fabrics and shoes from China but beneath is a massive illicit drug trade. She is also recognized as the Iyalaje of Blessing Sisters, an influential club of society women in Lagos.
In Kwara state, a fresh graduate, 24-year-old Khadijat Abdulraheem, and a 20-year-old student of the University of Ilorin, Ayomide Morakinyo, were on Sunday 29th December 2024 arrested by NDLEA operatives at Tanke-University of Ilorin road, Oke Odo, Ilorin.
Their arrest was based on credible intelligence that they were producing and selling drug laced cupcakes to students in the community. When their apartment was searched, 42 pieces of drugged cakes were recovered from them.
An ex-convict, Sodade Sunday Eniola, who was arrested by operatives of the Tincan Command of NDLEA in June, 2024, for drug trafficking, prosecuted and sentenced to four years in prison, has been arrested again by officers of the MMIA Strategic Command of the Agency for passport racketeering.
When he was convicted by a Federal High Court in Lagos on 14th June 2024, the trial judge gave him an option of paying N750,000 fine, which he paid and was let go.
However, in series of operations in December 2024, NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Lagos airport intercepted no fewer than 52 passports of different countries from shipments going to Canada, Russia, and other countries concealed in shoe soles and food items. Further investigations led to the arrest of four members of three syndicates involved in the racket.
According to Babafemi, the arrested suspects, Sodade Sunday Eniola; Ayinde Saheed Awwal; Salaudeen Afeez Ayode; and Sheriff Adebayo Bamigbade, alongside the exhibits, were on Monday 30th December 2024 handed over to the Zonal Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lagos for further investigation and possible prosecution.
