A twenty-three year old student of Management Accounting has been apprehended by anti-narcotic officials at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos. The drug suspect tested positive to drug ingestion during the screening of passengers on an Arik flight to London. The suspect has completed the excretion of all 92 pellets of substances that tested positive to cocaine weighing 1.535kg.
Mr Hamza Umar the NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport gave the name of the suspect as Chiwuzie Godson Chiedozie. According to Hamza, the suspect was also found in possession of two tickets. “Chiwuzie presented a valid Asky ticket from Lagos to Lome at the screening but during search, a valid Arik ticket from Lagos to London was recovered in his luggage. The Lome ticket was to divert attention from him but besides having multiple tickets, he also tested positive for drug ingestion”Hamza explained.
Investigations revealed that Chiwuzie is a student of Management Accounting at Waltham College, London where he had lived since 2009. He reportedly told narcotic investigators that he was recruited to smuggle drugs in his school in London. They promised to pay him £3,500 pounds with which he intended to pay his tuition.
According to the suspect, “I smuggled drugs against my wish because of my financial predicament. I was at a cross road and there was no help in view. They promised to pay me £3,500 pounds and they also gave me two tickets as a safety measure. They contacted me in my school in London and directed me to a man in Lagos. All travel expenses was paid and when I arrived Nigeria, they took me to a hotel in Lagos where they gave me the drugs. I managed to ingest 92 wraps because I had no option. I regret my action”. He hails from Oba in Idemili Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA Ahmadu Giade reiterated his call for members of the public to be strong-willed and resist temptations to make them traffic in drugs. “We have the keys to our success. Unless you agree, nobody can make you a drug trafficker. Those who lured this student into drug trafficking are not with him now. Those who come to you with drug trafficking offers do not wish you well, resist them” Giade urged.
Ofoyeju Mitchell
Head, Public Affairs
