Four drug kingpins—Ogbuji Christian Ifeanyi, Iloduba Augustine Chinonye, Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (also known as Don), and Zidon Zurga—have been convicted and sentenced to a total of 95 years in prison by the Federal High Court in Lagos and Yola, Adamawa State. They were found guilty of trafficking cocaine and skunk valued at over N4.6 billion.
In a statement released on Friday, March 7, by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, he revealed that Ogbuji was intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. He was caught during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers arriving from Addis Ababa with 817 wraps of cocaine weighing 19.40 kilograms. The street value of the seized drugs was estimated at Four Billion Six Hundred and Fifty-Six Million Naira (N4,656,000,000.00).
Babafemi noted that Ogbuji’s latest arrest occurred just 16 months after he had previously been arrested and convicted for a similar offense.
‘’He was first arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, upon arrival from Uganda via Addis Ababa, onboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951 for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.986kg. He was subsequently arraigned before Federal High Court 12 Abuja presided over by Hon. Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/192/2023 and convicted on July 13, 2023. Ogbuji was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of paying a fine of Three Million Naira (N3,000,000.00), which he paid and was set free.”
Despite his prior conviction, Ogbuji was re-arrested at the Lagos Airport on September 18, 2024, with a large quantity of cocaine. He was later arraigned before Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Lagos on January 16, 2025, in charge number: FHC/L/845C. On February 28, the court sentenced him to five years imprisonment on count one, with the option of a seven million naira fine, and 10 years imprisonment on count two, without an option of a fine. The judge ruled that if he failed to pay the N7 million fine, he would serve a total of 15 years consecutively. Additionally, the court ordered the forfeiture of monetary exhibits and other items found in his possession at the time of his arrest.
Babafemi also detailed the case of Iludoba Augustine Chinonye, 51, who was arrested on December 31, 2021, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for cocaine trafficking.
‘’He was found to have ingested 58 wraps of the illicit drug, 48 of which he excreted on transit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia while he expelled the balance of 10 in NDLEA custody after his arrest on January 1, 2022. He was thereafter arraigned on two counts in charge number FHC/EN/CR/18/2022 before Justice Folashade Giwa Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Enugu.”
Following three years of legal proceedings, Iludoba was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison on each count, totaling 10 years. His sentence will run concurrently from the date of conviction, March 5, 2025.
Babafemi further provided details on Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (Don), 55, and Zidon Zurga, 50, who were arrested by NDLEA operatives on November 25, 2024,
