The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the forfeiture of a multi-million-naira mansion located at Victoria Garden City (VGC) estate, Lekki, Lagos.
The property was reportedly used as a clandestine laboratory for the production of methamphetamine by a convicted drug baron, Okenwa Chris Nzewi. The forfeiture follows Nzewi’s successful prosecution and conviction by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Okenwa, arrested alongside his associate Sunny Okeh Ukah on July 30, 2022, pleaded guilty on July 17, 2023. The court sentenced them to four and three years imprisonment with an option of fines totaling N7 million, in addition to community service.
The NDLEA had filed a civil forfeiture charge against the building, and the court granted a final forfeiture order on December 7, 2023, preventing the convict from enjoying the proceeds of his criminal activity.
In a related development, a 75-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Sekinat Soremekun, was arrested by NDLEA operatives in Lagos for dealing in illicit drugs. Quantities of cannabis and liters of codeine syrup were recovered from the suspect, who claimed her son, Segun, now at large, supplied the drugs to her.
Additionally, the NDLEA intercepted over 1.5 million pills of tramadol 225mg and rohypnol at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Two suspects, Bada Olanrewaju Akorede and Amusan Olufela Sharafadeen, were taken into custody in connection with the consignment.
In Abuja, the NDLEA intercepted a consignment of 1,496 bottles of codeine syrup, leading to the arrest of a suspect, Ozioma Enoja, 31. Another consignment of 400 bottles of codeine syrup from Port Harcourt was seized along the Abaji-Abuja highway, with a suspect, Bala Ishaq, arrested.
The NDLEA also made significant seizures in Edo, Ogun, Borno, Zamfara, and Cross River states, with multiple arrests of individuals involved in the trafficking of cannabis.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, commended the officers and men for their efforts, urging them to maintain the offensive action against drug cartels, especially as the yuletide season approaches.
