Ajah Johnson Uchenna, a businessman and Rosemary Uchenna, his wife, were on Monday, 4th August 2025, sentenced to a total of 22 and a half years imprisonment by Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court 8 in Lagos for dealing in illicit drugs.
In a statement on Tuesday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said that the couple was first arrested on Friday, 13th June, by operatives of the department of state security (DSS) in Ojo area.
They were transferred to NDLEA along with 277.5kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
Although they were still being investigated in custody, intelligence revealed that the family business was going on in their house, and this led to a raid of their home and a packing store where 231kg of the same substance was recovered by NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, July 1st.
They were arraigned in charge number FHC/L/632C/2025 at the Federal High Court, Lagos, on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, dealing and storage of 414.2 kilograms of cannabis sativa.
Delivering his judgement on the case on Monday, 4th August, Justice Dipeolu convicted Mrs.
Rosemary Uchenna was convicted on counts 1, 2, and 3 and sentenced her to 17 years in prison without an option of fine, while her husband, Johnson Ajah Uchenna, was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment without option of fine on count 1 and six months in jail on count 4 with an option of N1 million fine.
In addition to the jail terms, the trial judge also ordered that the sum of Three Million, Four Hundred and Seven Thousand Naira (₦3,407,000.00) only recovered from the couple as proceeds of crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Similarly, a federal high court in Kano presided by Justice Simon Amobeda convicted and sentenced Neetu Neetu, a 42-year-old Indian lady, to five years imprisonment for importing 72 parcels of heroin factory sealed in wafer wraps and packaged as chocolates.
The heroin, which weighed 11 kilograms, was to be smuggled in through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.
The drug consignment was recovered from Neetu’s luggage after a thorough search during an inward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1431 from Bangkok, Thailand, via Vietnam and Doha at the arrival hall of the Kano airport on Friday, 14th March 2025.
She was subsequently arraigned in charge number FHC/KN/CR/65/2025 before Justice Amobeda, who eventually sentenced her to 10 years on two counts with an option of N2million fine.
That is not all, a 42-year-old Angolan businessman, Mbala Dajou Abuba, was sentenced to five years in prison by Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a federal high court in Kano following his arrest and arraignment by NDLEA for ingesting 120 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.829 kilograms.
Abuba, who is from the Zaire province in Angola, was arrested on Tuesday, 25th February at the screening point of the Kano airport while trying to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 to Istanbul, Turkey via Cairo.
The NDLEA has also secured the final forfeiture of a multi-billion Naira 80-room Hotel and Lounge in Victoria Island, Lagos, linked to an illicit drug trafficking cartel, along with other assets.
The 80-room hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, was used as a cover for distributing illicit substances.
It was raided between Friday, 25th and Saturday, 26th April 2025 by NDLEA operatives who, after hours of combing the rooms, recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis with a total weight of 417.3 kilograms worth One Billion Forty-Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦1,042,500,000) only in street value.
Forfeited along with the landed property situated at No. 16 Waziri Ibrahim Street off Elsie Femi Pearse Road, Victoria Island, Lagos, include Toyota Sienna Vehicle marked KJA 79 HJ; Volkswagen Delivery Van numbered AAA 525 JE; KIA Ceranto Car with plate number BDG 860 GQ; Black Colour Land Cruiser Prado with plate number AKD 472 DZ and Red Colour Grand Caravan Dodge with plate number APP 847 YF.
Others are White Colour Mazda Bus marked KTU 241 AAA; Mercedes Benz Truck with registration number ASB 500 XY; Gold Colour Toyota Corolla Car with registration number EKY 295 JT; Ash Colour Sienna Mini Bus; 84 Television Sets; 70 Air New Conditioners; and 13 New Fridges.
Reacting to the conviction and forfeiture court judgements, Buba Marwa, the chairman of NDLEA, commended the various commands of the agency, their officers and men that handled the various cases.
“Nothing serves the cause of justice more than when the criminal elements are given long jail terms and made to forfeit all they have acquired through the proceeds of their illicit drug trade, and we’re happy with this kind of judicial pronouncements, which will not only encourage our men to do more but will have long lasting impact on our drug control efforts.”
