…Seizes tonnes of narcotics nationwide
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, after months of evading capture over his alleged involvement in a sophisticated cross-border drug trafficking network.
The operation took place on Sunday, 3 August 2025, at the church premises along Okun Ajah, Ogombo Road, in the Lekki area of Lagos.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the cleric had twice escaped arrest and fled to Ghana in June, following the interception of two shipments of Ghana Loud, a potent strain of cannabis linked to him.
The first consignment, weighing 200kg, was intercepted at Okun Ajah beach on 4 June 2025. A second shipment, containing 700kg of the same substance, was recovered from his delivery van on 6 July 2025.
In his statement to investigators, Olasele admitted transporting the illicit cargo through waterways from Ghana into Nigeria and confirmed that he had fled to the neighbouring country to hide after previously evading capture.
In a separate Lagos operation on Thursday, 7 August, NDLEA officers raided an apartment at Kishi House, 11 Layi Ajayi Bembe Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, arresting Benjamin Udo Ukoh and recovering 32 pouches of Canadian Loud cannabis with a total weight of 15.63kg.
In Nasarawa State, operatives on Saturday, 9 August, seized 3,093kg of skunk, another strain of cannabis, from three suspects: Emmanuel Asoquo Johnny, 51; Okem Raphael, 33; and Chekwube Odo, 25, in the New Karu area.
Also in the past week, 29-year-old Nura Yahaya was arrested at Geza in Kumbotso, Kano State, with 639 blocks of skunk weighing 359kg on Friday, 8 August. On Wednesday, 6 August, NDLEA officers took 27-year-old Umar Adamu Umar into custody after finding 9kg of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis variant, along the Zaria–Kano road.
In another Kano interception, 20,000 tramadol pills and 200 ampoules of diazepam injection were recovered from 30-year-old Usman Musa at Gadar Tamburawa along the same highway on Friday, 8 August.
A raid on an uncompleted building in Tudun Wadan Pantami, Gombe town, Gombe State, on Friday, 8 August, yielded 550,266 opioid pills, mostly tramadol. A suspect, Usama Isah, was detained.
The following day, Saturday, 9 August, NDLEA officers apprehended Ibrahim Adamu, 23, along Potiskum road, Bajoga, with 50,000 tramadol capsules.
In Edo State, operatives on Wednesday, 6 August, intercepted a white Toyota Hiace bus with registration number YAB 5522 K at Ewu junction. The vehicle, travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Isanlu, Kogi State, was found to contain 23,940 tramadol capsules, 1,100 tramadol tablets, and 400 ampoules of pentazocine injection. The driver, Taiye Jethro, was arrested.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands nationwide continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns, holding educational sessions in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities. These included lectures at Mind City College, Saki, Oyo State; Gwagwarwa Primary School, Nasarawa LGA, Kano; for officers of the Nigerian Army 241 Recce Model Battalion in Nguru, Yobe; and members of the Engine Grinders Association, Gboko, Benue State.
The Ekiti State command paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Nigerian Correctional Service in Ado Ekiti, while the Anambra State command visited the Speaker of the State House of Assembly to promote the anti-drug message.
Commending the officers of the Lagos, Nasarawa, Gombe, Kano, and Edo commands for their arrests, seizures, and professionalism, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), encouraged them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
