Four drug traffickers, identified as Ogbuji Christian Ifeanyi, Iloduba Augustine Chinonye, Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (also known as Don), and Zidon Zurga, have been sentenced to a total of 95 years in prison.

The Federal High Court in Lagos and Yola, Adamawa State, found them guilty of smuggling cocaine and cannabis worth over N4.6 bbillion.

NDLEA officers arrested Ogbuji at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on September 18, 2024. He arrived on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa carrying 817 wraps of cocaine, weighing 19.40 kg.

’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.

Not done with crime, Ogbuji was again arrested at the Lagos Airport with the large consignment of cocaine on September 18, 2024, after which he was arraigned before Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court Lagos in charge number: FHC/L/845C on January 16, 2025. He was eventually sentenced on February 28 to five years imprisonment on count one with an option of seven million naira fine and 10 years imprisonment on count two without an option of fine. In the event that he failed to pay the N7million fine, the judge ruled that the convict will serve a total of 15 years in jail consecutively. The court ordered the forfeiture of monetary exhibits and other items found on him at the time of his arrest.”

The drugs had a street value of N4.65 billion. This was not his first offense—just 16 months earlier, he had been convicted for swallowing 93 pellets of cocaine.

Iloduba was arrested on December 31, 2021, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for smuggling cocaine. After a three-year trial, he was sentenced on March 5, 2025, to 10 years in prison.

’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.

NDLEA operatives caught Shuaibu and Zidon on November 25, 2024, along the Numan-Yola Road. They were transporting 500.8 kg of skunk (a type of cannabis) in two vehicles—a Toyota Hilux and a Prado SUV with a fake presidency number plate. The court sentenced them to 35 years each in prison or a fine of N25 million each. Their vehicles were also seized.

The Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the officers who worked on the cases. He said that the convictions and vehicle forfeitures would help in the fight against drug trafficking. The NDLEA remains committed to dismantling drug networks in Nigeria.

This case highlights the severe penalties for drug trafficking and the ongoing efforts by authorities to curb drug-related crimes in the country.