Thursday, December 4, 2025 - A Federal High Court in Lagos State, on Wednesday, ordered that a middle-aged man, Uche Ezeh, be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre after he pleaded guilty to charges of exporting 4.40 kilograms of cocaine and 11.50 kilograms of cannabis sativa.
He will remain in custody until December 12, 2025, when the
court is expected to review the facts of the case and deliver judgment.
Ezeh was arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency on a four-count charge, marked FHC/L/30/2025, before Justice Chukwujekwu
Aneke.
Before his arraignment, the prosecution applied to
substitute Ezeh for another defendant, Ekeocha Anayo Nelson, who had previously
been standing trial on the same allegations.
Prosecution counsel, Abu Ibrahim, told the court that
Ekeocha’s discharge became necessary after investigators apprehended the
principal drug trafficker, identified as Ezeh.
Justice Aneke consequently struck out Ekeocha’s name from
the charge. Following the substitution, the prosecution requested permission
for the amended charges to be read to Ezeh, a request that defence counsel P.
U. Okenyi did not oppose.
The defendant pleaded guilty to all four counts.
According to the NDLEA, on November 5, 2024, Ezeh engaged
Ekeocha Anayo Nelson to export 4.40 kilograms of cocaine concealed in food
items during the examination of goods destined for the United Kingdom through
Cologne, Germany, at the NAHCO Export Shed at Murtala Muhammed International
Airport, Ikeja.
He was also accused of personally exporting the same
quantity of cocaine on the same date and through the same airport facility.
The agency further alleged that on May 12, 2025, Ezeh
recruited one Olowolehin Sunday Olabode to export 11.50 kilograms of cannabis
sativa hidden in packs of plantain chips, again through the NAHCO Export Shed.
Prosecutors said he also exported the same quantity of
cannabis that day without lawful authorization.
The offences, according to the NDLEA, violate Sections
21(2)(d) and 20(1)(a) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria, and are punishable under Sections 11(b) and 20(2)(a) of the same Act.
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