Nosa Aituamen
The Federal High Court in Lagos and Yola, Adamawa state has convicted and sentenced four drug kingpins to a total of 95 years in prison for trafficking cocaine and skunk worth over N4.6 billion.
In a statement, the NDLEA spokesman Mr. Femi Babafemi says, Ogbuji Christian Ifeanyi, Iloduba Augustine Chinonye, Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (a.k.a Don), and Zidon Zurga were arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for their involvement in the trafficking of the illicit drugs.
He said, Ogbuji, a 48-year-old businessman, was arrested twice for ingesting cocaine.
Mr. Babafemi explained that, he was first arrested in May 2023 and convicted, but was released after paying a fine and arrested again in September 2024 and convicted of trafficking 817 wraps of cocaine worth N4.6 billion.
He was sentenced to five years imprisonment with an option of paying a fine of N7 million, which he failed to pay, resulting in a total sentence of 15 years in prison.
Iloduba, 51, was arrested in December 2021 for trafficking cocaine and was found to have ingested 58 wraps of the drug. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (a.k.a Don), 55, and Zidon Zurga, 50, were arrested in November 2024 for trafficking 500.8kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
They were convicted and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment each, bringing the combined years in jail for both of them to 70 years.
Responding to this development, Chairman, NDLEA, Brig Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the trial courts and the teams of officers who investigated and prosecuted the cases for their diligence and professionalism.
He said that the conviction and forfeiture of the convicts’ instruments of crime will further strengthen the deterrent effect of the agency’s ongoing effort to dismantle every drug network in the country.