NDLEA Arrest 93-Year-Old Drug Trafficking Suspect

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A businessman was caught hiding cocaine inside his private part. Credit: NewsCentralAfrica

A 93-year-old Abia State resident, Friday Ahukanna Chigbu, was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Tuesday. He was among nine suspects arrested by the agency in the previous week.

NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement issued on Sunday, said the 93-year-old man was found in possession of skunk, a strain of cannabis.

“In one of such operations, a nonagenarian Pa Friday Ahukanna Chigbu was arrested at his home in Umuagbaigba, Amavo Nkwogu village, Osisioma local government area of Abia state on Tuesday 7th April 2026,” said Babafemi.

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“A search of his residence led to the recovery of 7.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis. The suspect claimed he had worked as a truck pusher but later learnt painting and tiling before going into the illicit drug business over a year ago. He claimed he had been smoking skunk since 1959, before turning it into a business.”

In another operation to unravel the collaborators of an international drug syndicate, NDLEA operatives arrested a 69-year-old medical doctor, Chudi Daniel Ofomata, in Ogun State.

NDLEA Arrest 93-year-old Drug Trafficking Suspect (News Central TV)
69-year-old medical doctor, Chudi Daniel Ofomata. Credit: NDLEA.

Ofomata’s arrest follows the arrest of a 41-year-old Ivorian, Gohouri Michael, 41, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, who was nabbed with 82 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.49kg.

According to Babafemi, Gohouri (also known as Anunwa Onyinye Michael) was arrested on February 16, 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940 to Milan, Malpensa via Addis Ababa.

Babafemi revealed that Gohouri acted on instructions from Ofomata, the medical doctor.

“Gohouri had a shadowy figure behind the scene, giving him instructions on how to move the cocaine consignment through the airport. The hidden figure behind Gohouri was eventually discovered to be Dr Chudi Daniel Ofomata, who was later tracked and traced to his residence at Teachers’ Land estate, Magboro, Obafemi Owode LGA, Ogun state, where he was arrested on 27th March 2026 and flown to Kano on Tuesday, 7th April,” Babfemi added.

“Recovered from him at the point of his arrest include 63grams of promazepam and 7 ampoules of promethazine injection. Gohouri had arrived in Lagos from Milan, Italy on 17th January, 2026 and was shuttling from Lagos to Enugu for three weeks. He later travelled to Kano where he stayed for a week before ingesting the cocaine consignment in his hotel room. He’s expected to be paid 5,000 Euros when he delivers the drugs in Milan.”

Author

  • Olayide Oluwafunmilayo Soaga is a Nigerian journalist with four years of professional experience. She reports on health, gender, education and development, with a focus on impact-driven storytelling.

    She was runner-up for the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) Best Solutions Journalism Award in West Africa in 2024 and a finalist for the 2025 West Africa Media Excellence Awards.

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