A Lagos-based couple, Ajah Uchenna and his wife, Rosemary Uchenna, have been sentenced to a combined total of 22.5 years imprisonment for drug trafficking by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The verdict, delivered on Monday, August 4, 2025, by Justice Deinde Dipeolu, follows their arrest and prosecution for dealing in 414.2 kilograms of cannabis sativa.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
The couple was initially arrested on June 13, 2025, in the Ojo area of Lagos by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and handed over to the NDLEA, alongside 277.5kg of cannabis, commonly known as ‘skunk’.
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A follow-up raid at their residence and storage facility on July 1 led to the seizure of an additional 231kg of the same substance.
In charge number FHC/L/632C/2025, Justice Dipeolu convicted Rosemary Uchenna on three counts and sentenced her to 17 years without an option of fine.
Her husband, Johnson, received five years on count one and six months on count four, with an option of ₦1 million fine.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of ₦3,407,000 recovered from the couple as proceeds of crime to the federal government.
In similar convictions across the country, a 42-year-old Indian woman, Neetu Neetu, was sentenced by Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court, Kano, to 10 years imprisonment or a fine of ₦2 million.
Neetu was caught attempting to smuggle 11kg of heroin concealed as chocolates through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on March 14, 2025.
Also in Kano, Justice Mohammed Yunusa sentenced a 42-year-old Angolan businessman, Mbala Abuba, to five years’ imprisonment for attempting to traffic 1.8kg of cocaine via Egypt Air to Istanbul.
Abuba was arrested at the Kano airport on February 25, 2025, after ingesting 120 pellets of cocaine.
In Enugu, Justice M.G. Umar sentenced Eze Christian Ikenna to six years imprisonment for unlawful possession and trafficking of 11.2kg of cocaine concealed in herbal tea sachets.
Eze was arrested at Akanu Ibiam International Airport on January 20, 2023, upon arrival from Brazil. The sentence is to run concurrently from May 20, 2023.
In a breakthrough in its anti-narcotics war, the NDLEA has secured the final forfeiture of an 80-room luxury hotel and lounge located on Waziri Ibrahim Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, used by a drug cartel as a base for distributing illicit substances.
During a raid carried out between April 25 and 26, 2025, NDLEA operatives recovered 417.3kg of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, worth over ₦1.04 billion in street value.
The forfeiture also includes 10 luxury vehicles such as Toyota Sienna, Land Cruiser Prado, and a Mercedes-Benz truck, along with 84 television sets, 70 air conditioners, and 13 refrigerators.
Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala granted the final forfeiture order on July 18, 2025, under motion number FHC/L/MISC/447/2025, following a successful legal filing by the NDLEA.
Reacting to the series of convictions and forfeitures, NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), praised the agency’s operatives and the judiciary for their dedication and prompt delivery of justice.
