Four individuals convicted of drug trafficking have received a combined 95-year prison sentence from Federal High Courts in Lagos and Yola, Adamawa State. They were found guilty of smuggling cocaine and cannabis valued at over ₦4.6 billion.
The convicts, Ogbuji Christian Ifeanyi, Iloduba Augustine Chinonye, Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (also known as Don), and Zidon Zurga, were apprehended during separate raids conducted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media & Advocacy, disclosed in a statement on Friday, March 7, that Ogbuji was arrested on 18 September 2024, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. He had arrived from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 19.40kg of cocaine concealed in 817 wraps, an illicit cargo valued at approximately ₦4.65 billion.
“This arrest came just 16 months after the 48-year-old businessman was previously caught and sentenced for drug smuggling. His first arrest took place on 10 May 2023, at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, where he arrived from Uganda via Addis Ababa aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951. He had ingested 93 pellets of cocaine, weighing a total of 1.986kg,” Babafemi revealed.
Ogbuji was convicted in July 2023 and handed a two-year sentence with an option to pay a ₦3 million fine, which he settled to secure his release. However, his return to drug trafficking led to his second arrest in Lagos in September 2024.
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Charged before Justice Yellim Bogoro at the Federal High Court, Lagos, on 16 January 2025, he was sentenced on 28 February to five years behind bars with the option of a ₦7 million fine on one count, alongside an additional 10-year term without any fine option. Should he fail to pay the fine, he will serve a total of 15 years in prison.
Iloduba Augustine Chinonye, aged 51, was detained at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on 31 December 2021, for attempting to smuggle cocaine. He had swallowed 58 wraps of the drug, expelling 48 while in transit in Ethiopia and the remaining 10 after being taken into NDLEA custody.
Following a three-year trial, he was convicted on two charges and sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison by Justice Folashade Giwa Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Enugu, on 5 March 2025.
In a separate case, Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (a.k.a. Don), 55, and Zidon Zurga, 50, were caught on 25 November 2024 along the Numan-Yola highway with 500.8kg of skunk, a potent cannabis strain. The drugs were hidden inside a Toyota Hilux and a Prado SUV, which bore a counterfeit presidential number plate.
The Federal High Court in Yola, presided over by Justice Bala Usman, sentenced both men to 35 years in jail each on 7 February 2025, bringing their total combined sentence to 70 years. Additionally, they were fined ₦25 million each, and the court ordered the temporary forfeiture of their vehicles.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the courts for delivering justice and lauded the agency’s officers for their commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks.