Lagos court sentences 2 drug kingpins to 10 years in prison

Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - Two notorious drug kingpins: 37-year-old Ajetsibo Emami popularly known as ‘Warri Kinsman’ and 51-year-old Solomon Akpomuai have been convicted and sentenced to a combined 10 years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Lagos.

Emami was arrested in Ikeja Lagos on Saturday 28th June 2025 after NDLEA operatives dismantled his drug trafficking network in a three-day operation leading to the arrest of three other suspects.

The spokesperson of the agency, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 said 24 jumbo bags containing 681 pouches of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 414.2 kilograms were recovered from Emami's network.

The bust of Emami’s drug ring followed credible intelligence on his attempt to move the shipment to Lekki area of Lagos, from where it will be distributed to other parts of the state and across the country.

He was subsequently arraigned before Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court 8 Lagos in charge number FHC/L/636C/2025 bordering on dealing in illicit drugs. 

In his ruling delivered on Monday 18th August 2025, the trial judge convicted Emami on the one count charge filed against him by NDLEA prosecutor Assistant Commander of Narcotics Buhari Shuaibu Abdullahi and sentenced him to six years in prison with an option of N50million in lieu of jail.

In his case, Solomon Akpomuai was first arrested by men of Customs Service along Shagamu-Ijebu-Ode expressway with 2,197.8 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis on 3rd June 2025 and transferred to NDLEA on 16th June after which he was arraigned in charge number FHC/L/635C before Justice Dipeolu for trafficking illicit drugs in large commercial quantity. 

Also delivering his judgement on the matter, the trial judge convicted and sentenced Akpomuai to four years in prison with an option of N50million fine.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) described the conviction of the two drug kingpins as an indication that Nigeria will sooner than later surmount the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking as a result of the positive outcomes of the current balanced approach to the Agency’s drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts. 

He commended the judiciary, NDLEA officers involved in the investigation and prosecution of the cases as well as other stakeholders for their commitment to the cause of a drug free country.