NDLEA arrests Church General Overseer with drugs at Lagos Airport on his way to crusade in Kenya

By Seye Ekanade

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA have arrested the General Overseer of Christ Living Hope Church, Rev. Ugochukwu Emmanuel Ekwem, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while on his way to a three-week crusade in Nairobi, Kenya, with 54 sticks of drugs wrapped around his body.

The youthful and popular preacher, who has his church headquarters in Isuaniocha, Mgbakwu Road, Awka, Anambra State, and two other branches in Lagos and Abuja, was arrested on March 7, 2022, during the outward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi via Addis Ababa.

When tested, the 54 sticks were found to be cannabis.

The clergyman confessed during a preliminary interview that he packed that quantity of illicit substance on his body to use during his three-week crusade in Kenya.

On the same day, another passenger, Nnakeanyi Chukwuka King, who arrived at the airport on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa was intercepted during the inward clearance of passengers at the E-Arrival Hall of the MMIA.

During a search of his luggage, 40 parcels of cocaine concealed inside bottles of cream with a gross weight of 9.70kg were recovered from the suspect.

Also on the same day, operatives arrested a freight agent, Rafiu Abbas, at the NAHCO export shed of the airport when he presented a cargo containing 19.15kg Cannabis going to London.

The illicit substance was concealed inside plastic containers labelled as “African dishes” and packed in a bag.