NDLEA Arrests Wanted Drug Kingpin, Nollywood Filmmaker
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a wanted drug kingpin and Lagos socialite, 61-year-old Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye.
The suspect was arrested on January 1, in her mansion at Okota area of Lagos, following the interception of a truckload of illicit drugs with her staff members.
“Known in the drug underworld as “Iya Ruka”, Alhaja Ajoke as she is fondly called in social circle, has her true identity shrouded in mystery for years while she remained on the wanted list of NDLEA for leading one of the drug cartels operating from Mushin area of Lagos.
“The lid was however blown off her invincibility on Wednesday 1st January 2025 when NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence intercepted a white Izuzu truck carrying 44 jumbo sacks containing 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis and driven by one of her staff, 41-year-old Abideen Adio.
“Thereafter, the operatives stormed her hideout at 33 Adebayo Oyewole street, off Ago Palace way, Okota, where they arrested her.
“On the surface, Alhaja Ajoke is a businesswoman who imports fabrics and shoes from China but beneath is a massive illicit drug trade. She is also recognized as the Iyalaje of Blessing Sisters, an influential club of society women in Lagos,” NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi said in a statement on Sunday.
Similarly, NDLEA officers on December 27, 2024 arrested a US-trained Hollywood and Nollywood filmmaker, Emeka Emmanuel Mbadiwe, at his Lekki Hotel room following the arrest of his partner, one Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James.
The man was arrested on the same day at a warehouse in Ajao estate in Ikeja, where he was sent by Mbadiwe to collect a shipment of 33 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 17.30 kilograms, which arrived the Import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja on December 24, 2024 from the United States, concealed in large wooden boxes.
In Kwara state, a fresh graduate Khadijat Abdulraheem, 24, and a 20-year-old student of the University of Ilorin, Ayomide Morakinyo were nabbed on December 29, 2024 along Tanke-University of Ilorin road.
They were arrested for producing and selling drug laced cupcakes to students in the community.
“When their apartment was searched, 42 pieces of drugged cakes were recovered from them,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, an ex-convict, Sodade Sunday Eniola, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment but given option to pay N750,000 for drug trafficking, has been arrested again by officers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos for passport racketeering.
“In series of operations in December 2024, NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Lagos airport intercepted no fewer than 52 passports of different countries from shipments going to Canada, Russia, and other countries concealed in shoe soles and food items. Further investigations led to the arrest of four members of three syndicates involved in the racket.
“The arrested suspects include: Sodade Sunday Eniola; Ayinde Saheed Awwal; Salaudeen Afeez Ayode; and Sheriff Adebayo Bamigbade.
“Both the exhibits and the suspects were on Monday 30th December 2024 handed over to the Zonal Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lagos for further investigation and possible prosecution.”
In Rivers, NDLEA operatives in a joint operation with Customs and other security agencies, have seized not less than 316, 800 bottles of codeine-based syrup in two containers at the Onne port on December 31, 2024.
On the same day in Kano, operatives raided Mafarki and Dan Dishe in Dala LGA where they recovered 149, 090 pills of tramadol and exol-5 from a local dealer, 45-year-old Ismail Muhammad.
