Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested US-trained filmmaker and motivational speaker, Emeka Emmanuel Mbadiwe, on Friday, December 27, 2024, in his hotel room in Lekki. His arrest followed the earlier apprehension of his partner, Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James, at a warehouse in Ajao Estate, Ikeja, on the same day. According to a statement by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, Mbadiwe had sent James to collect a shipment of 33 parcels of “Loud” cannabis, weighing 17.30 kilograms, from a warehouse. The shipment had arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) on December 24, 2024, concealed in large wooden boxes and was flown in from the United States on a Delta Airlines flight.
In a separate incident, NDLEA operatives in Kwara State arrested 24-year-old Khadijat Abdulraheem, a recent graduate, and 20-year-old University of Ilorin student Ayomide Morakinyo. They were caught producing and selling drug-laced cupcakes to students in the community. When their apartment was searched, officers recovered 42 drug-infused cupcakes.
In another related case, ex-convict Sodade Sunday Eniola, arrested by NDLEA operatives in June 2024 for drug trafficking, has been re-arrested. After serving a four-year sentence, Eniola was released on a N750,000 fine but was recently apprehended again, this time for passport racketeering. During a series of operations in December 2024, NDLEA operatives at the MMIA export shed intercepted 52 passports from various countries, hidden in shoe soles and food items, bound for destinations including Canada and Russia. Further investigations led to the arrest of four members of three syndicates involved in the racket: Sodade Sunday Eniola, Ayinde Saheed Awwal, Salaudeen Afeez Ayode, and Sheriff Adebayo Bamigbade. The suspects and evidence were handed over to the Zonal Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lagos for further investigation and potential prosecution on December 30, 2024.
Additionally, NDLEA officers, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs and other security agencies, recovered 316,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup from two containers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, on December 31, 2024. This seizure was made following credible intelligence provided by the Port Harcourt Port Command of the NDLEA.
