An Indian woman, Neetu Neetu, and an Angolan businessman, Mbala Abuba, have been sentenced to a combined 15 years’ imprisonment for drug-related offences.
The convicts were found guilty of unlawful possession and trafficking of illicit substances such as heroin and cocaine, among others.
The convictions followed separate cases prosecuted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) after both individuals were apprehended while importing hard drugs into the country at different locations.
The verdicts were delivered by Justice Simon Amobeda and Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court in Kano.
Neetu, who faced a two-count charge, was sentenced for importing 72 parcels of heroin, factory-sealed in wafer wraps and packaged as chocolates, weighing 11 kilograms, into Nigeria through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) in Kano.
The class A drug consignment was recovered from Neetus luggage after a thorough search, following processed credible intelligence, 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.
Justice Amobeda after hearing the evidence presented against the 42-year-old foreigner, sentenced her to 10 years imprisonment or an option to pay N2million fine.
Meanwhile, the Angolan businessman was convicted and 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 2025 at the screening point of the Kano airport while trying to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 to Istanbul, Turkey via Cairo.
In a separate case, a businessman Johnson Uchenna and his wife Rosemary Uchenna were 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.
The couple was first arrested on Friday 13th June by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Ojo area of the state and transferred to NDLEA along with 277.5kg skunk, a strain of cannabis.
While they were still being investigated in custody, credible intelligence revealed that the family business was going on in their house.
This led to a raid of their home and a packing store where 231kg of same substance was recovered by NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 1st July.
They were subsequently 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, Justice Dipeolu convicted Rosemary on counts 1, 2, and 3 and sentenced her to 17 years in prison without an option of fine, while her husband 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 judge also ordered the sum of N3.4 million recovered from the couple as proceeds of crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Equally, a Federal High Court in Enugu has convicted another drug trafficker Eze Ikenna on two counts of unlawful trafficking and possession of 11.20 kilograms of cocaine, brought against him by the NDLEA in charge number FHC/EN/CS/9/2023.
Ikenna’s conviction came six months after he was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, upon arrival from Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with 11.20 kilograms of cocaine concealed in herbal tea sachets.
He was subsequently arraigned before Justice M. G. Umar of the Federal High Court, Enugu, who eventually sentenced him to three years imprisonment on each count, totalling six years, while the sentence will run concurrently.
In another major success in its fight against drug trafficking, the NDLEA has secured the final forfeiture of an 80-room hotel and lounge in Victoria Island, Lagos, worth billions of Naira, linked to a drug cartel, along with other assets.
The 80-room hotel in Victoria Island Lagos used as cover for distributing illicit substances was raided between 25th and 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 over N1 billion.
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, Volkswagen Delivery Van, KIA Ceranto Car, Black Colour Land Cruiser Prado, among other luxury cars.
The final forfeiture orders were issued by Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala following the motion number FHC/L/MISC/447/2025 filed by NDLEA.
Reacting to the convictions and forfeiture, the Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the various NDLEA commands, their officers and men who handled the cases, as well as the judiciary for delivering prompt judgments that strengthen the deterrent effect of the agency’s efforts.
“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 were 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, Marwa stated.
