Barely three years after he was arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for dealing in illicit drugs, an 80-year-old man, Jeremiah Isaiah Nkanta, has again been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for returning to the criminal trade.

Nkanta, described by the agency as a notorious drug dealer, was first arrested by NDLEA operatives on December 14, 2022, and subsequently prosecuted and convicted by a Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where he was sentenced to two years in prison.

However, findings revealed that the octogenarian, who appeared unrepentant after serving his jail term, returned to the illicit drug business.

Following credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, January 10, 2025, tracked him to his residence in Mmanta–Abak village, Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

A search of his house led to the recovery of 5.7 kilogrammes of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, concealed within the premises.

In a statement issued on Sunday by the Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, the agency also disclosed that its operatives recorded another major breakthrough in Akwa Ibom State with the arrest of a suspected drug trafficker using mannequins to conceal opioids.

Babafemi said NDLEA officers on patrol along the Oron–Ibaka Road in Oron Local Government Area intercepted a 37-year-old businessman, Ani Onyebuchi Romans, on Friday, January 9, while he was travelling with full-body mannequins meant for his clothing business in Cameroon.

A thorough search of the mannequins, however, revealed that they were stuffed with 5.3 kilogrammes of tramadol pills.

According to the suspect, who claimed to reside in Cameroon, he was returning to his base after the Christmas and New Year holidays when he was apprehended.

Investigations further revealed that the drugs were purchased in Onitsha, Anambra State, and were being trafficked to Cameroon for sale using the mannequins as concealment.

In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives carried out coordinated raids across several locations, leading to the arrest of notorious drug dealers and the seizure of large quantities of illicit substances.

Among those arrested was Remi Bamidele, 45, popularly known as Aluko the Mafia, who was apprehended at Sasa area of Ibadan on Thursday, January 8.

Recovered from him were 10.696 kilogrammes of Colorado, Scottish Loud, Ghana Loud, Canadian Loud and skunk, all strains of cannabis. Two vehicles—a Toyota Venza and a Toyota Yaris with registration number HG 06 LYD-were also seized from him.

At the Adegbayi area of Ibadan, NDLEA officers arrested Adeola Toheeb, 27, on Friday, January 9, with various quantities of Colorado, Ghana Loud and skunk.

Similarly, Habeeb Ali, 29, was arrested at Ring Road, Ibadan, with 1.264kg of Colorado, Scottish Loud and skunk, alongside a cash exhibit of ₦1,307,100, recovered at the point of his arrest on Saturday, January 10.

Edo, Niger, Taraba, Adamawa busts

In Edo State, a dispatch rider, Osagbovo Edigin, 30, alongside Ebimi Labo, 28, and Akhimie Success, 25, were arrested on Friday, January 9, at Ihama/Airport Road GRA, Benin City.

The arrests followed the seizure of 118 grammes of Canadian Loud and a wrap of Colorado.

Also in Edo, Jimoh Agbonmhegbe, 49, was arrested at Irrua with 17.552kg of Colorado, Loud and skunk, while Evelyn Okoyomon, 38, was apprehended at Ubiaja with 930 grammes of skunk on Wednesday, January 7.

In Niger State, NDLEA operatives recovered 4,000 pills of tramadol (225mg) from a 22-year-old suspect, Nazifi Umar, at Dakwa town, Tafa Local Government Area.

Similarly, in Taraba State, Yusuf Usman, 41, was arrested at Lankaviri, Yorro Local Government Area, with 100 blocks of skunk weighing 47kg.

In Adamawa State, NDLEA officers recovered 30,950 capsules of tramadol from the residence of Ugwoke Chibueze, 40, in Bachure area of Yola South Local Government Area, following his arrest at the Lamido Aliyu Mustapha International Airport, Yola, on Tuesday, January 6.

Babafemi added that the agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns across the country in the past week.

These included sensitisation lectures at Government Day Science and Technical College, Babura, Jigawa State; Abiayubal Ansari Islamiyya School, Fagge Local Government Area of Kano State; and among youths of Oshituma Umuogudu Akpu Ngbo in Ebonyi State, among others.

While commending officers and men of the Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Taraba, Edo, Oyo and Niger commands for their efforts, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised their operational successes.

He said their achievements, “especially the balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts, are well appreciated.”

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, Jan. 8, arraigned an Austrian national, Kavlak Onal, before the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos over alleged failure to declare foreign currencies totalling $800,575 and €651,505, equivalent to about N2.28 billion.

Onal was arraigned before Justice Yellim Bogoro on a two-count charge bordering on non-declaration of funds.

The prosecution counsel, Mrs Bilikisu Buhari, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offence on December 13 during outward clearance at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, en route to Australia.

According to the prosecution, the defendant was arrested by officers of the Anti-Money Laundering Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the airport after he failed to declare the foreign currencies in his possession.

Buhari said the alleged offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2022.

When the charges were read to him, the defendant pleaded not guilty to both counts.

Following his plea, the prosecution urged the court to remand the defendant in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) pending trial.

However, defendant counsel, Sterlin Imhemuro, who appeared with Temilehin Olushola, informed the court that a bail application had been filed on behalf of the defendant and served on the prosecution.
He requested that his client be remanded in EFCC custody pending the hearing and determination of the bail application.

Responding, the prosecutor confirmed receipt of the bail application at about 9:03 a.m and requested a short adjournment to enable her to study the application and file a response.

After hearing submissions from both parties, Justice Bogoro adjourned the matter to January 16 for the hearing of the bail application and ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending the determination of the application.

The charges against the defendant read in part that on December 13, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of the court, he failed to declare the sum of $800,575 to the Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2022.

The second count alleged that he failed to declare the sum of €651,505 at the same airport on the same date, an offence also contrary to and punishable under the same provision of the Act.

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A Nigerian man has been sentenced to d3ath after being convicted of m8rdering his four-year-old step-grandson in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

LIB reported that Ibekwe Emeka Augustine threw the child from the third floor of an apartment building on Sunday, November 29, 2020 after he failed to rape his stepdaughter, who is the victim’s mother. Read other reports HERE and HERE

High Court judge K. Muniandy sentenced Ibekwe, 48, to d3ath on Friday, January 9, 2025 after finding him guilty of m8rder, ruling that the prosecution had proven the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

“You are sentenced to death by hanging until you are d3ad. However, you have the right to appeal against the sentence at the Court of Appeal,” the judge said.

Moments before the sentence was passed, Augustine, handcuffed and dressed in a white T-shirt and black trousers, pleaded for leniency.

“I regret everything that happened, and it will not happen again. I remember going swimming and playing football with him. Please have mercy on me. Everything is in your hands,” he said.

Augustine appeared solemn as he was led out of the courtroom. An interpreter was present throughout the proceedings.

He was charged in 2020 with m8rdering the boy between 7.45am and 8.15am at an apartment unit in Setapak on Nov 29, 2020, which carries the d3ath penalty or a jail term between 30 and 40 years upon conviction.

In addition to the m8rder conviction, Augustine was sentenced to one year for one count of attempted suicide, five years for s3xually assaulting his then 25-year-old stepdaughter, five years for attempted m8rder of his son, then aged 7; and 14 years for causing grievous hurt to his wife, then 48, who suffered a broken hip.

Muniandy ordered that all jail sentences run concurrently, which is 14-years, from Augustine’s arrest on Nov 29, 2020.

“All these inhumane and despicable acts of the accused could have been stopped as the accused’s wife attempted to do so, but the accused persisted even after grievously injuring her.

“The victims were all traumatised by the entire incident and had to run away from the home before anything more dreadful was inflicted on them.

“Then they found the grandchild dead on the ground as he was thrown away mercilessly by the accused, who then attempted suicide.

“Such conduct cannot be excused on the grounds of self-intoxication with drugs or his attempt to end his own life,” he said.

In mitigation, defence counsel Zulkifli Awang argued that his client should be spared the death penalty, saying the murder was not premeditated and that his client was not a hardened criminal incapable of rehabilitation.

“The facts show that his actions were due to schizophrenia and that he was of unsound mind, although the court had ruled that self-intoxication is not a defence.

“But I want to stress that what occurred was due to his insanity, due to drug consumption.

“He has been in remand since his arrest, and he is repentant. Imprisonment would be a more appropriate sentence. It is not necessary to take another life,” he said.

Deputy public prosecutor Zaileen Nadia Zubir urged the court to impose the death penalty, stating that Augustine had admitted to committing the acts due to prolonged consumption of drugs and not schizophrenia.

“He dangled the child by the leg outside the window before throwing him out, an act witnessed by the boy’s mother.

“He had admitted that it happened because of drugs and not because of schizophrenia, and he heard voices.

“He knew his actions were wrong and apologised,” she said.

The trial began in January 2024 and concluded in December the same year, with testimony from 22 prosecution witnesses and two defence witnesses, who were Augustine himself and consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony.

After the proceedings, Zulkifli said a notice of appeal against the d3ath sentence would be filed.

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