Lagos Court sentences four drug lords to 28 years in prison

A Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice Yellim Bogoro, has sentenced four drug kingpins to a combined total of 28 years in prison with hard labour.

The kingpins were arrested two years ago with 2.1 tonnes of cocaine at a residential estate in Ikorodu.

Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, shared the details in a statement.

The convicted individuals are Soji Jubril Oke, 71; Wasiu Akinade, 55; Emmanuel Arinze Chukwu, 67; and Jamaican national Kelvin Christopher Smith, 44. They were charged with six counts under case number FHC/L/607C/2022 in October and December 2022. A fifth suspect, Oguntolure Sunday, who was arrested alongside them, is still facing trial.

The convicts were found guilty of forming and operating a drug trafficking organization (DTO), financing and managing the DTO, as well as the importation and possession of 2,139.55 kilograms of cocaine, among other charges.

According to Babafemi, the NDLEA’s special operations unit conducted a well-coordinated, intelligence-led operation on September 18, 2022, raiding a house at 6 Olukuola Crescent, Solebo Estate, Ikorodu, where the 2.1 tonnes of cocaine—the largest single cocaine seizure in Nigeria’s anti-narcotics history—were discovered.

The statement further stated, “The drug kingpins were apprehended from various hotels and hideouts in Lagos between the night of Sunday, September 18, and the early hours of Monday, September 19, 2022.”

After over two years of diligent prosecution, the trial judge sentenced the Jamaican, Kelvin Christopher Smith, to four years in prison with hard labour; Emmanuel Arinze Chukwu received 16 years; Soji Jubril Oke was sentenced to five years with hard labour; and Wasiu Akinade was sentenced to three years with hard labour. The judge also imposed varying fines on the convicts, with one being denied the option of a fine and required to serve his full prison term.

In addition to their sentences, the convicts were ordered to forfeit several assets: a grey Toyota Tacoma SUV (registered in Emmanuel Chukwu’s name); $50,000 belonging to Chukwu; N55,099,509.50 also belonging to Chukwu; N9,003,168.06 belonging to Wasiu Akinade; and N3,052,295.20 belonging to Akinade.