The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has explained how it arrested Rev. Ugochukwu Emmanuel Ekwem, the General Overseer of Christ Living Hope Church with 54 sticks of drugs wrapped around his body, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos while on his way to Nairobi, Kenya for a three-week crusade.
The anti narcotics agency also apprehended another passenger, Nnakeanyi Chukwuka King, who arrived the airport on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, was intercepted during the inward clearance of passengers at the E-Arrival Hall of the MMIA.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson who disclosed this at the weekend, said the clergyman, Ekwem, confessed during preliminary interview that he packed the quantity of illicit substance on his body to use during his three-week crusade in Kenya.
The preacher, who has his church headquarters in Isuaniocha, Mgbakwu road, Awka, Awka North LGA, Anambra State and two other branches in Lagos and Abuja, was arrested on Monday, March 7 during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi via Addis Ababa.
It was the same day that Mr. King was arrested after a search of his luggage revealed 40 parcels of Cocaine concealed inside bottles of body cream with a gross weight of 9.70kg.
Also, on March 9, another passenger on Ethiopian Airlines flight to Italy, Mr. Edo Blessing, was intercepted at the Departure Hall of the airport with 2,090 tablets of Tramadol 225mg and Flunitrazepam.
The suspect, who hails from Edo State but lives in Italy 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.
In a related development, a 63-year-old Vincent Obimma was on Friday, March 11 arrested with 350grams of cocaine and 150grams of heroin by NDLEA operatives at a park in the Apapa seaport corridor in Lagos.
The drugs were hidden in industrial torch packets heading to Kano, Kano State.
Meanwhile, a drug dealer in Kaduna State, James Okenwa, has been arrested in a follow-up operation at Central Market, Kaduna.
He admitted the ownership of 1,807 bottles of cough syrup with codeine that were earlier recovered from two suspects at tollgate.