The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested High Priest Nnodu Azuka Kenrick, the founder and general overseer of the Seraphic and Sabbath Assembly in Lagos State; Udezuka Udoka, a student at the Emmanuel College of Theology in Samanda, Ibadan, Oyo State; and Oyoyo Mary Obasi, their freight agent.
The anti-narcotics agency said they were caught trying to send shipments of methamphetamine and skunk that were hidden in kegs of palm oil to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, through the NAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the NDLEA, said Sunday in Abuja that High Priest Nnodu was arrested on February 11, 2023, at his Seraphic and Sabbath Assembly church at No. 1, Sabbath Close, in the Ijesha neighbourhood of Lagos.
He said this was because Oyoyo Mary Obasi and Udezuka Udoka, a theology student, were caught at the Lagos airport on Thursday.
The two people were arrested after 283 packages of skunk weighing 14.90 kg and 204 grammes of methamphetamine hidden in four 25-litre kegs of palm oil meant for Dubai were found.
“In her statement Mary indicted the General Overseer of her new-found church, Nnodu and his son, Chisom Obi, who is now at large as the persons that gave her the consignments for export after being compelled to take an oath of secrecy as well as a sacrifice of chicken in the church while High Priest Nnodu prayed for her for the success of the transaction,” Babafemi said.
Mary told how her church’s GO recruited her. She said the priest and his son threatened her to take the job because they knew she knew their secrets. She also noted that High Priest Nnodu always called illegal drugs “Ice” and “Bible,” street names for methamphetamine and marijuana.
Udezuka, a theology student, contacted Mary to help her since she was new to the illegal business.
Udezuka said he was paid N2 million for his role and had to do it because he needed the money for his education.
Nnamani Monday Innocent, a Dubai returnee also tried to ship skunk and tramadol 225mg to the UAE. He was arrested at the Trade Fair complex in the Ojo area of Lagos, where he and his friend Nwanana Emmanuel Ikechukwu had gone with the shipment to a freight company to prepare it for export on Tuesday, February 7.
In the same way, NDLEA agents at the SAHCO export shed at the Lagos airport stopped a shipment going to London, United Kingdom, on the same day.
In the shipment of food items packed in a carton, 1.10 kg of methamphetamine was hidden in the four walls of the carton. The freight agent, Agholor Emmanuel, who sent the shipment to be exported, was arrested.
