By Ihechi Enyinnaya
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of an ex-international footballer, a 72-year-old grandmother, and several other suspects in a series of coordinated anti-narcotic operations across the country.
The former professional footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, was apprehended at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos while allegedly attempting to take delivery of a consignment of cocaine from his associate, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu. Chinedu, a businessman known for frequent trips between Nigeria and Turkey, was caught with 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grams hidden in his hand luggage.
NDLEA investigations revealed that Chinedu had transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the illicit package before arriving in Nigeria. Hunkarin, who claimed he had previously trafficked drugs only from Brazil to Ethiopia during his footballing years in South America, was arrested while waiting at the airport carpark.
In another operation at Lagos airport on June 27, NDLEA officers arrested Amen Okoro Godstime, a Europe-based logistics businessman, attempting to smuggle 5,000 pills of tramadol 225mg disguised as common malaria medications to Spain via a Royal Air Maroc flight.
Simultaneously, NDLEA operatives at Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, intercepted Ezenwaka Chibuzor Emmanuel, a Maputo-based bar attendant, in possession of 17.5kg of methamphetamine and 3.05kg of cocaine. The drugs were concealed in bedsheets. Another suspect on the same flight, 54-year-old Azu Follygan Kpodar, was arrested with 1.25kg of liquid cocaine disguised in a liquid soap container. Kpodar, a toy merchant from Brazil, claimed he bought the substance while shopping for his upcoming wedding in Nigeria.
At the Seme border, 26-year-old Beninese national Vode Jean-Luck was caught with 29.5kg of skunk cannabis while attempting to smuggle it from Benin Republic into Nigeria.
In Kwara State, notorious drug dealer Mary Bolanle Oladele, also known as Iya Nafi, was apprehended in Omu-Aran, Irepodun LGA, with various drugs including skunk, tramadol, and flunitrazepam. Meanwhile, in Warri, Delta State, 72-year-old Christy Ejaro was arrested with several sachets of skunk prepared for retail sale.
These arrests are part of NDLEA’s intensified crackdown under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative. Alongside enforcement, the agency also conducted sensitization lectures in schools across Katsina, Oyo, Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa, and Ekiti, reaching students and educators alike.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the dedication of the agency’s commands across the country. “Their actions show an effective balance between reducing drug supply and addressing drug demand,” he stated.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to rooting out narcotic trafficking and abuse in Nigeria, urging continued public cooperation in the fight against drug crimes.