The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested several individuals, including a Lagos socialite and alleged drug kingpin and Nollywood filmmaker, in connection with a drug deal.
The agency announced that the year began with a series of high-profile arrests and drug seizures across Lagos, Kwara, Kano, and Rivers states.
This information was disclosed in a statement by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday.
Details of arrests
According to the statement, In Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested 61-year-old Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye, a wanted drug kingpin, on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, at her mansion in the Okota area. This arrest followed the interception of a truckload of illicit drugs sent by her staff on the same day.
Alhaja Ajoke, known in the drug underworld as “Iya Ruka,” had long kept her true identity hidden while remaining on NDLEA’s wanted list for leading a drug cartel operating from Mushin, Lagos.
Her cover was blown when NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, intercepted a white Isuzu truck carrying 44 jumbo sacks containing 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis. The truck was driven by one of her staff members, 41-year-old Abideen Adio.
Following the interception, NDLEA operatives stormed her hideout at 33 Adebayo Oyewole Street, off Ago Palace Way, Okota, where they arrested her.
On the surface, Alhaja Ajoke presents herself as a businesswoman importing fabrics and shoes from China, but beneath this persona lies a major illicit drug operation. She is also known as the Iyalaje of Blessing Sisters, an influential women’s club in Lagos.
On December 27, 2024, NDLEA officers arrested Emeka Emmanuel Mbadiwe, a US-trained filmmaker and motivational speaker, at his hotel room in Lekki.
According to Babafemi, Mbadiwe’s arrest followed that of his partner, Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James, earlier the same day.
“James had been dispatched by Mbadiwe to collect a shipment of drugs from a warehouse in Ajao Estate, Ikeja. The consignment, which consisted of 33 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 17.30 kilograms, arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) on December 24, 2024.
“It had been concealed in large wooden boxes and flown in from the United States via a Delta Airlines flight,” he explained.
In Kwara State, Babafemi stated that two ladies were arrested on Sunday, December 29, 2024, for producing and selling drug-laced cupcakes to students.
“Khadijat Abdulraheem, a 24-year-old graduate, and Ayomide Morakinyo, a 20-year-old University of Ilorin student, were apprehended after NDLEA operatives uncovered 42 drug-laced cakes in their apartment near the Tanke-University of Ilorin road,” he noted.
Ex-convict re-arrested for passport racketeering
The statement added that an ex-convict, Sodade Sunday Eniola, was also arrested by operatives of the Tincan Command of NDLEA in June 2024, for drug trafficking, prosecuted and sentenced to four years in prison has been arrested again by officers of the MMIA Strategic Command of the Agency for passport racketeering.
“When he was convicted by a Federal High Court in Lagos on 14th June 2024, the trial judge gave him an option of paying N750,000 fine, which he paid and was let go.
“However, in a series of operations in December 2024, NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Lagos airport intercepted no fewer than 52 passports of different countries from shipments going to Canada, Russia, and other countries concealed in shoe soles and food items.
Further investigations led to the arrest of four members of three syndicates involved in the racket.
“The arrested suspects include: Sodade Sunday Eniola; Ayinde Saheed Awwal; Salaudeen Afeez Ayode; and Sheriff Adebayo Bamigbade.
“Both the exhibits and the suspects were on Monday 30th December 2024 handed over to the Zonal Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lagos for further investigation and possible prosecution,” it stated.
Drug seizures and operations
- The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy further revealed that not less than 316, 800 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers by NDLEA officers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne Rivers state during a joint examination of the shipments with men of Nigeria Customs and other security agencies on Tuesday 31st December 2024.
- According to Babafemi, the seizure followed credible intelligence processed by the Port Harcourt Port Command of the Agency.
- Also, In Kano, Babafemi mentioned that operatives on Tuesday 31st December 2024 raided Mafarki, Dan Dishe area of Dala LG where they recovered 149, 090 pills of tramadol and exol-5 from a local dealer, 45-year-old Ismail Muhammad.
