The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on
Tuesday arrested a female Kenyan dance at the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport in Lagos with banned
substances concealed in school bags.
The suspect, identified as Odhiambo Samira Johnson,
42, was arrested for being in possession of four blue
parcels of white powdery substance that tested positive
for cocaine, weighing 5.345kg.


The Kenyan is among three persons arrested on
Tuesday by the anti-narcotics agency in Lagos.
The other two suspects, who are Nigerians, claimed to
be automobile parts dealers based in Uganda.
They were identified as Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, 41,
and Ndubuisi Offormadu Innocent, 49, and were caught
importing 6.250kg of cocaine and 1.490kg of heroin into
the country.
The NDLEA Head of Public Affairs, Mitchel Ofoyeju, who
confirmed the arrest and seizure yesterday, said that
the total weight of the drugs seized from the trio was
13.085kg, comprising 11.595kg of cocaine and 1.490kg
of heroin.
According to Ofoyeju, the NDLEA Commander at the
Lagos Airport, Hamza Umar, who personally supervised
the interrogation of the suspects, said that they were
apprehended while trying to smuggle the illegal drugs
into the country.
NDLEA preliminary investigations revealed that the
Kenyan-born Johnson departed Bujumbura in Burundi
en-route Nairobi, Kenya to Lagos on a Kenyan Airways
flight before she was picked up by operatives of the
agency during screening of passengers.
Confessing to the crime, Odhiambo said, “I am a
professional dancer in Kenya. I was given the school
bags in Bujumbura by a friend to deliver in Nigeria.
When I got to the airport in Lagos, the customs
searched my luggage and found the drugs”.
Chinedu, who hailed from Anambra State, boarded
Ethiopian Airline flight from Kampala, Uganda en-route
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Lagos.
He confessed: “I have lived in Uganda for two years. I
am married with two children. I came to Nigeria to
attend my brother’s wedding ceremony. While I was
preparing to leave Uganda, my friend gave me a bag to
take to his brother who lives in Nigeria. Unfortunately,
the drug was detected inside the bag”.
Innocent, who hailed from Abia State, in his confession
statement, claimed that he was a victim of
circumstance.
He said: “I went to a friend in Uganda to lend me some
money but he gave me the option of drug trafficking. I
decided to give it a trial for the very first time and it
turned out this way. I was promised 3,000 dollars but I
am very sad now, because I am missing my wife and
four children. I have lived in Uganda for 18 years”.
Chairman/Chief Executive, Ahmadu Giade, said that the
NDLEA was making significant progress in drug control.
“In spite of the new tactics adopted by drug barons, the
NDLEA is still intercepting drugs. Ordinarily, Uganda and
Kenya are not known to be source countries for cocaine
and heroin but the suspects were unable to evade arrest
due to the diligence of our officers”, he stated.
Mr. Giade added that all the cases are being
investigated and urged members of the public to report
suspected drug traffickers to the nearest NDLEA office.