Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a preacher and the General Overseer of Christ Living Hope Church, Rev. Ugochukwu Emmanuel, for carrying 54 sticks of drugs.
The suspect was nabbed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, in Lagos while on his way to a crusade in Nairobi, Kenya, a statement issued by the agency on Sunday said.
Rev. Ugochukwu, who was arrested on Monday, in an outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi via Addis Ababa, was said to have wrapped the drugs around his body.
“When tested, the 54 sticks proved positive to cannabis. The clergyman confessed during [a] preliminary interview that he packed that quantity of illicit substance on his body to use during his three weeks crusade in Kenya,” NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said in the statement.
The preacher’s church headquarters is in Isuaniocha, Mgbakwu Road, Awka, Awka North Local Government Area, Anambra State. He has branches in Lagos and Abuja.
Similarly, another passenger, Nnakeanyi Chukwuka King, was intercepted with 40 parcels of Cocaine concealed in bottles of body cream weighing 9.70kg. They were recovered from him during a stop and search operation.
He was intercepted at the E-Arrival Hall of the MMIA and had boarded an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa.
This is as the agency intercepted one Edo Blessing, three days later, at the Departure Hall of the airport with 2, 090 tablets of Tramadol 225mg and Flunitrazepam. The suspect, who is from Edo State and had boarded an Ethiopian Airlines flight, claimed ownership of the recovered psychotropic substances.
“Also on the same day, operatives arrested a freight agent, Rafiu Abbas at the NAHCO Export Shed of the airport when he presented a cargo containing 19.15kg cannabis going to London. The illicit substance was concealed inside plastic containers labelled as ‘African Dishes’ and packed in a bag,” the NDLEA added.
Also in Lagos, a 63-year-old Vincent Obimma was arrested on Friday in the Apapa Seaport corridor in Lagos with 350grams of cocaine and 150grams of heroin. The drugs were hidden in industrial torch packets heading to Kano, Kano State.