OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have rescued a 59-year-old businessman, Chijioke Igbokwe, after helping him to undergo emergency surgery to remove 57 of 81 cocaine pellets from his stomach.
The procedure, an exploratory laparotomy, was necessary after Igbokwe struggled for seven days to excrete the illicit substances, which he had ingested in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to a statement released on Sunday by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Igbokwe was arrested on January 26, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State, during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
The statement said an NDLEA body scan confirmed the ingestion of illicit drugs, leading to Igbokwe being placed under excretion monitoring at the agency’s medical facility.
“Investigations revealed that Igbokwe, who claims to be a clothing trader at Arena, Oshodi, Lagos, departed Lagos on January 22 for Addis Ababa, where he ingested the 81 wraps of cocaine on 23 January before boarding a flight to Beirut, Lebanon, to deliver the illicit consignment for a fee of $3,000.
“Upon his arrival in Beirut, he was denied entry because he had less than $2,000, the minimum amount required for admission. He was subsequently deported to Addis Ababa, where he attempted to excrete the illicit drugs but failed. He then travelled to Lagos on January 25 with the consignment still in his system but was arrested upon arrival at the Lagos Airport by NDLEA officers on January 26.”
The agency explained that after five days of excretion monitoring, Igbokwe had only expelled 24 pellets despite receiving initial medical care at the NDLEA medical facility and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
It added that as it became critical and complications emerged due to pre-existing health conditions, Igbokwe was admitted to a tertiary hospital, where doctors performed an exploratory laparotomy to remove the remaining 57 cocaine pellets. The procedure was carried out after Igbokwe’s wife and brother signed the necessary consent forms on January 30, said the NDLEA.
The agency consequently retrieved 81 cocaine pellets from Igbokwe’s body, with a combined weight of 1.943 kilogrammes.
Multiple reports and the NDLEA have shown how Ethiopian Airlines is among the airlines preferred by drug barons for their illicit activities.
Meanwhile, the agency also said its operatives intercepted a 2,000kg shipment of Ghanaian Loud at Lekki Beach on January 29. Two suspects, Sunday Awoyede and Christopher Cletus, were arrested while loading the drugs onto a truck, stressing that another suspect, Lawal Idris Olasunkanmi, was caught the same day with 55kg of skunk in Mushin, Lagos.
Fatimah Quadri is a Journalist and a Fact-checker at The ICIR. She has written news articles, fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy in an effort to combat information disorder.
She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org