Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have saved the life of a 59-year-old businessman, Chijioke Igbokwe, after he underwent emergency surgery to remove 57 out of 81 pellets of cocaine stuck in his stomach.
The surgery, an exploratory laparotomy, was performed after Igbokwe spent seven days struggling to excrete the illicit substance, which he had ingested in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said
Igbokwe was arrested on January 26, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
He added that a body scan conducted by the NDLEA officers revealed that he had ingested illicit drugs, noting that he was immediately placed under excretion observation at the agency’s medical facility.
Babafemi said, “Investigation revealed that Igbokwe who claims to be into cloth business at the Arena, Oshodi area of Lagos, departed Lagos on January 22, to Addis Ababa where he ingested the 81 wraps of cocaine the following day, January 23, and boarded a flight to Beirut, Lebanon to deliver the illicit consignment for a fee of $3,000.
“Upon his arrival in Beirut, he said he was refused entry because he had less than $2,000, the amount required to grant him entry. He was then deported to Addis Ababa where he attempted excreting the illicit drugs but could not. He thereafter proceeded to Lagos on Saturday, January 25, with the consignment in his bowel. He was however arrested upon his arrival at the Lagos airport by the NDLEA officers on January 26.
“After five days under excretion observation, he could only expel 24 pellets following initial medical intervention at the agency’s medical facility and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
With the clock ticking for him and the complication of other underlying medical conditions, the suspect was eventually admitted at the tertiary facility where he had to undergo exploratory laparotomy to extract the remaining 57 wraps of cocaine stuck in his stomach after his wife and brother endorsed the necessary consent forms on Thursday, January 30.”
Babafemi stated that in total, the NDLEA recovered 81 cocaine pellets weighing 1.943 kilograms from his body.
In another operation, Babafemi said the NDLEA operatives intercepted a 2,000-kilogram shipment of Ghanaian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, at Lekki beach on January 29.
He added that two suspects, Sunday Awoyede and Christopher Cletus, were arrested while attempting to load the drugs into a truck.
“Another suspect, Lawal Idris Olasunkanmi, was also arrested the same day with 55kg skunk during a raid at his base in the Mushin area of Lagos,” Babafemi added.
