NDLEA docks Nigerian returnee from Brazil over alleged unlawful Importation of 6.1kg Cocaine
By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
A recently Nigerian returnee from Brazil, Abugu Oliver Ikechukwu, is facing trial before a Federal High Court presided over by Justice Friday Nkemakonam Ogazi sitting in Ikoyi Lagos for unlawful importation of 6.1 Kilograms of cocaine into the country.
He was arraigned before Justice Ogazi on Friday, by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to the charge brought against him, the returnee lkechukwu allegedly committed the offence on June 11, 2026, at Gate 2 of the Arrival Hall of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Abu Ibrahim Esq. who announced appearance for the prosecution told the court that the defendant was intercepted during the inward clearance of passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Brazil through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Lagos.
The defendant allegedly immersed and soaked the prohibited drug in towels and other clothing.
The prosecutor informed the court that the alleged unlawful act of the defendant constituted an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
However, defendant Abugu Oliver Ikechukwu had pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.
Upon his not guilty plea, the prosecutor asked for a trial date, as well as an order remanding the defendant pending trial.
In response to the prosecutor’s request, defendant’s lawyer, Chief Benson Ndakara, told the court that he had filed his client’s bail application and same has been served on the prosecutor.
The defence counsel was however not granted the leave to move the bail application, due to the tight schedule of the court.
Consequently, Justice Ogazi ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS), till September 9, when his bail application would be heard.
The charge against the defendant reads: “That you Abugu Oliver Ikechukwu, Male, Adult, Nigerian on or about the 11th June, 2026 at Gate 2 of the Arrival Hall of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopia Airline flight from Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Lagos without lawful authority imported 6.1 kilograms of Cocaine, a Narcotic Drug immersed/soaked in Towels and other clothing and you thereby committed an act which is an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004″.
