The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced that two notorious drug kingpins, Uwaezuoke Ikenna Christian and Agbo Chidike Prince, have been sentenced to life imprisonment. This marks the culmination of their years-long criminal enterprise involving the exportation of cocaine across continents.

According to NDLEA, Uwaezuoke’s journey to lifetime jail began when he was first arrested on March 19, 2022, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, during the inward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after he was found to have ingested 100 big wraps of cocaine, weighing 2.243 kilograms.

The anti-narcotic agency said he was subsequently arraigned at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022, and was granted bail on certain conditions after he pleaded not guilty.

NDLEA said he thereafter absconded, leading the court to revoke his bail and issue an arrest warrant against him.

According to a statement by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, on Sunday, Uwaezuoke was again rearrested by NDLEA operatives on 1st August 2023, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to export 1.822 kilograms of cocaine to India through ingestion using a different passport and under a different name, Ilonzeh Kingsley Onyebuchi.

Babafemi said Uwaezuoke was again arraigned before Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, in charge number FHC/L/554C/2023, where he pleaded guilty to the two counts charge and was convicted and sentenced on 18th October 2023 to a total term of seven years of imprisonment or a fine of ₦1,500,000.00.

He paid the fine and was transferred to Abuja to face the importation case pending against him and was re-arraigned on 20th March 2024 at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2022 before Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik, where he pleaded guilty again.

According to the statement, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment despite his plea, noting his lack of remorse, the seriousness of drug-related offences, and the fact that he is a repeat offender by the court.

Babafemi said in the case of 42-year-old Agbo Chidike Prince, he was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja during the outward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Hong Kong on 21st October 2023 for ingesting 49 wraps of cocaine weighing 998.73grams.

Upon his arraignment before Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, the defendant pleaded guilty to the one-count charge, prompting the prosecution to present evidence and review the facts of the case.

Despite the plea of allocutus by the defendant’s counsel, the court, noting the nature of the case and the commercial quantity of the drug, emphasized the seriousness of drug-related offences, convicted and sentenced the defendant on April 15, 2024, to life imprisonment.