The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized a multi-million-naira mansion in Lekki, Lagos, located at K-5A/2 Road 14, Victoria Garden City Estate.
This was revealed in a statement signed by Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, and posted on the agency’s Facebook page on Sunday.
According to the statement, Okenwa Chris Nzewi, a convicted drug baron, used the property as a clandestine laboratory for producing methamphetamine. Following Nzewi’s conviction, the mansion and his vehicle, registered as EKY 496 DJ, were forfeited to the federal government.
Nzewi, who was arrested alongside associate Sunny Okeh Ukah, pleaded guilty and received sentences of four and three years in prison, respectively.
The NDLEA’s statement partly reads, “Okenwa was arrested along with his associate, Sunny Okeh Ukah, on July 30, 2022, and subsequently arraigned on four counts in charge number FHC/L/527C/2022 at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
“They both pleaded guilty on July 17, 2023, while they were convicted and sentenced to four and three years imprisonment each, with the option of a fine of four million (N4,000,000) naira and three million (N3,000,000) naira, respectively, in addition to community service for four and three weeks each.
“His vehicle, marked EKY 496 DJ, was equally forfeited to the Federal Government.
“To further deny him enjoying the proceeds of his criminal activity, the NDLEA filed a civil forfeiture charge against the building used as a clandestine laboratory at the Federal High Court Lagos, which initially granted an interim forfeiture order that elapsed on December 6 before the final forfeiture on December 7, 2023.
“Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Lagos on Friday, December 15th, arrested a 75-year-old grandma, Mrs. Sekinat Soremekun, for dealing in illicit drugs.
“At the time of her arrest in the Oshodi area of Lagos, quantities of cannabis and liters of codeine syrup were recovered from her. She claimed her son, Segun, who is now at large, supplied her with the illicit substances, which she retailed.”
