By IBIRONKE ARIYO

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the conviction and sentencing of four drug kingpins to various prison terms by the Federal High Courts in Lagos and Yola, Adamawa.

In a statement on Friday in Abuja, NDLEA?s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, said the convicts were found guilty of trafficking cocaine and skunk worth over N4.6 billion.

He identified the convicts as Ifeanyi Ogbuji, Iloduba Chinonye, Shuaibu Isa (a.k.a Don), and Zidon Zurga.

Babafemi revealed that Ogbuji was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Addis Ababa.

He was arrested for importing 817 wraps of cocaine, weighing 19.40 kilograms, with an estimated street value of N4.6 billion.

?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 Wed., May 10, 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 July 13, 2023.

?Ogbuji was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of paying a fine of N3 million 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 Sept. 18, 2024.?

He said Ogbuji was subsequently arraigned before Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Jan. 16, under charge number FHC/L/845C.

Babafemi said, ?Ogbuji was eventually sentenced on Feb. 28 to five years in prison on count one, with an option of a seven-million-naira fine, and 10 years in prison on count two, without an option of a fine.

?In the event that he failed to pay the N7 million 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 said.

In his case, 51-year-old Iloduba was arrested by NDLEA operatives on New Year?s Eve, on Dec.31, 2021, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for cocaine trafficking.

Babafemi stated that Iloduba had ingested 58 wraps of the illicit drug, expelling 48 while in transit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

?He excreted the remaining 10 while in NDLEA custody after his arrest on Jan. 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, Iludoba was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment on each count, bringing his total years in jail to 10 years.

?This will however, run concurrently from the date of his conviction, Wednesday, March 5,?NDLEA spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Nuhu Isa (a.k.a Don), 55, and Zurga, 50, were arrested by NDLEA operatives on Nov. 25, 2024, along the Numan-Yola Road.

Babafemi said they were found in possession of 500.8 kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis, concealed in a Toyota Hilux marked Lagos NT 829 AAA and a Prado SUV bearing a fake presidency number plate, 01B-266 FG.

?They were later arraigned before Justice Bala Usman in charge number: FHC/YL/150 /2024 and convicted on Feb. 7, 2025 to 35 years imprisonment each on two counts.

?This brings the combined years in jail for both of them to 70 years or pay a fine of N25 million each.

?The court also ordered the interim forfeiture of the two jeeps used in trafficking the illicit drug consignment,?he said.

Reacting to the convictions, NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, commended the trial courts and the teams of officers who investigated and prosecuted the cases.

He also praised NDLEA officers at the MMIA Strategic Command in Lagos, Akanu Ibiam International Airport Special Area Command in Enugu, and the Adamawa State Command for their diligence and professionalism.

Marwa said, ?The convictions and the forfeiture of the convicts? instruments of crime will further strengthen the deterrent effect of our ongoing efforts to completely dismantle every drug network in the country.? (NAN)

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