A federal high court in Lagos has sentenced Ajah Johnson Uchenna, a businessman and Rosemary Uchenna, his wife, to a combined 22 and a half years in prison for running a large-scale cannabis trafficking operation from their home.
A statement on Tuesday by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the couple was first arrested on June 13 by operatives of the department of state security (DSS) in Ojo area of the state and transferred to NDLEA along with 277.5kg skunk, a strain of cannabis.
Babafemi said while the couple was still being investigated in custody, credible intelligence revealed that the family business was going on in their house.
“This led to a raid of their home and a packing store where 231kg of the same substance was recovered by NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, 1st July,” the statement reads.
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“They were subsequently arraigned in charge number FHC/L/632C/2025 at the Federal High Court, Lagos, on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, dealing and storage of 414.2 kilograms of cannabis sativa.
“Delivering his judgement on the case on Monday 4th August, Justice Dipeolu convicted Mrs. Rosemary Uchenna on counts 1, 2, and 3 and sentenced her to 17 years in prison without an option of fine, while her husband Johnson Ajah Uchenna was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment without option of fine on count one and six months in jail on count 4 with an option of N1 million fine.
“In addition to the jail terms, the trial judge also ordered the sum of Three Million, Four Hundred and Seven Thousand Naira (₦ 3,407,000.00) only recovered from the couple as proceeds of crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.”
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Similarly, a federal high court in Kano presided by Simon Amobeda, convicted and sentenced Neetu Neetu, a 42-year-old Indian lady, to five years imprisonment for importing 72 parcels of heroin factory sealed in wafer wraps and packaged as chocolates into Nigeria through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.
“The class A drug consignment was recovered from Neetu’s luggage after a thorough search, following processed credible intelligence, during an inward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1431 from Bangkok, Thailand, via Vietnam and Doha at the arrival hall of the Kano airport on Friday, 14th March 2025,” the statement added.
“She was subsequently arraigned in charge number FHC/KN/CR/65/2025 before Justice Amobeda, who eventually sentenced her to 10 years on two counts with an option of N2million fine.”
Reacting to the conviction and forfeiture court judgements, Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, commended the various commands of the agency and officers that handled the different cases.
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“Nothing serves the cause of justice more than when the criminal elements are given long jail terms and made to forfeit all they have acquired through the proceeds of their illicit drug trade, and we’re happy with this kind of judicial pronouncements, which will not only encourage our men to do more but will have long lasting impact on our drug control efforts”, Marwa said.
