Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have saved the life of a 59-year-old businessman, Chijioke Igbokwe, after performing emergency surgery to remove 57 out of 81 pellets of cocaine lodged in his stomach.
The surgical procedure, an exploratory laparotomy, became necessary after Igbokwe spent a week unsuccessfully trying to excrete the drugs he had ingested in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Igbokwe was arrested on January 26, 2025, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. He was intercepted during the inward clearance of passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A body scan confirmed that he had ingested illicit substances, prompting officers to place him under medical observation for excretion at the agency’s facility.
Babafemi explained, “Investigations revealed that Igbokwe, who claims to be a clothing trader at Arena, Oshodi, Lagos, departed Lagos on January 22 for Addis Ababa, where he ingested the 81 wraps of cocaine on 23 January before boarding a flight to Beirut, Lebanon, to deliver the illicit consignment for a fee of $3,000.
“Upon his arrival in Beirut, he was denied entry because he had less than $2,000, the minimum amount required for admission. He was subsequently deported to Addis Ababa, where he attempted to excrete the illicit drugs but failed. He then travelled to Lagos on January 25 with the consignment still in his system but was arrested upon arrival at the Lagos airport by NDLEA officers on January 26.”
After five days under observation, Igbokwe managed to excrete only 24 pellets, despite initial medical intervention at NDLEA’s facility and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. As complications arose due to underlying medical issues, he was admitted to a tertiary hospital for an exploratory laparotomy to remove the remaining 57 cocaine wraps. The surgery was conducted after his wife and brother signed consent forms on January 30.
Babafemi confirmed that NDLEA recovered all 81 pellets, weighing a total of 1.943 kilograms.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers intercepted a 2,000-kilogram shipment of Ghanaian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, at Lekki Beach on January 29.
Two suspects, Sunday Awoyede and Christopher Cletus, were arrested while trying to load the drugs onto a truck.
Babafemi also reported that “another suspect, Lawal Idris Olasunkanmi, was also arrested the same day with 55kg of skunk during a raid at his base in the Mushin area of Lagos.”
