NDLEA Secures Final Forfeiture Of Hotel, Conviction Of Drug Peddlers
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has secured the final forfeiture of a multi-billion Naira 80-room Hotel and Lounge in Victoria Island Lagos linked to an illicit drug trafficking cartel along with other assets.
NDLEA’S Head of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi did loaded this on Tuesday.
According to him, after several hours of sweeping through the 80-room hotel, which was used as cover for distributing illicit substances, operatives recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis with a total weight of 417.3 kilograms worth One Billion Forty-Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦1,042,500,000) only in street value.
Forfeited along with the landed property situated at No. 16 Waziri Ibrahim Street off Elsie Femi Pearse Road, Victoria Island, Lagos, include: Toyota Sienna vehicle marked KJA 79 HJ; a Volkswagen Delivery Van numbered AAA 525 JE; a KIA Ceranto car with plate number BDG 860 GQ and a black Land Cruiser Prado with plate number AKD 472 DZ.
Others are, a red Grand Caravan Dodge with plate number APP 847 YF; a white Mazda bus marked KTU 241 AAA; a Mercedes Benz truck with registration number ASB 500 XY; a Gold Toyota Corolla car with registration number EKY 295 JT; a gray Sienna mini bus; 84 television sets; 70 newair conditioners and 13 new fridges.
The final forfeiture orders were issued on Friday 18th July 2025 by Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala following the motion number FHC/L/MISC/447/2025 filed by NDLEA.
In another development, Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court 8 in Lagos, has sentenced a businessman, Ajah Johnson Uchenna and his wife Rosemary Uchenna, to a total of 22 and a half years imprisonment for dealing in illicit drugs.
The couple, who was convicted on Monday, 4th August, was first arrested on Friday 13th June by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Ojo area of the state and transferred to the anti-narcotics agency along with 277.5kg skunk, a strain of cannabis.
While they were still being investigated in custody, credible intelligence revealed that the family business was going on in their house. This led to a raid of their home and a packing store where 231kg of same substance was recovered by operatives on Tuesday 1st July.
Justice Dipeolu convicted Mrs. Rosemary Uchenna on counts 1, 2, and 3 and sentenced her to 17 years in prison without an option of fine, while her husband Johnson Ajah Uchenna was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment without option of fine on count 1 and six months in jail on count 4 with an option of N1 million fine.
In addition to the jail terms, the trial judge also ordered the sum of Three Million, Four Hundred and Seven Thousand Naira (₦3, 407,000.00) only recovered from the couple as proceeds of crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Similarly, a 42-year-old Indian lady, Neetu Neetu has been convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment by Justice Simon Amobeda, of Federal High Court in Kano for importing 72 parcels of heroin factory sealed in wafer wraps and packaged as chocolates, weighing 11 kilograms into Nigeria through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) Kano.
The class A drug consignment was recovered from Neetu’s luggage after a thorough search, following processed credible intelligence, during an inward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1431 from Bangkok, Thailand via Vietnam and Doha at the arrival hall of the Kano airport on Friday 14th March 2025.
In like manner, a 42-year-old Angolan businessman Mbala Dajou Abuba was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison by Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court in Kano following his arrest and arraignment by NDLEA for ingesting 120 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.829 kilograms.
Abuba who is from the Zaire province in Angola was arrested on Tuesday 25th February 2025 at the screening point of the Kano airport while trying to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 to Istanbul, Turkey via Cairo.
Equally, another drug trafficker, Eze Christian Ikenna, has been convicted by a Federal High Court in Enugu on two counts of unlawful trafficking and possession of 11.20 kilograms of cocaine, brought against him by the NDLEA.
Eze was arrested on January 20, 2023 by NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, upon arrival from Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with 11.20 kilograms of cocaine concealed in herbal tea sachets.
He was subsequently arraigned before Justice M. G. Umar of the Federal High Court, Enugu, who eventually sentenced him to three years imprisonment on each count, totalling six years, while the sentence will run concurrently, effective from May 20, 2023.
Reacting to the forfeiture court judgements and convictions, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (Rtd) commended the various commands of the agency, their officers and men that handled the various cases as well as the judiciary, for delivering prompt judgements to strengthen the deterrent effect of NDLEA efforts.
“Nothing serves the cause of justice more than when the criminal elements are given long jail terms and made to forfeit all they have acquired through the proceeds of their illicit drug trade, and we’re happy with this kind of judicial pronouncements, which will not only encourage our men to do more but will have long lasting impact on our drug control efforts”, he stated.
