A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced a fugitive drug kingpin, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, and a former international footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, to a combined 24 years imprisonment for importing cocaine into Nigeria.
Justice Musa Kakaki delivered the judgment On Monday after finding the two men guilty of offences bordering on the unlawful importation of cocaine, following their prosecution by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Chinedu received a 20-year jail term without the option of a fine for importing 6.250 kilograms of cocaine. The court also sentenced him to an additional two years for conspiring with Hunkarin to import another 800 grams of cocaine, bringing his total sentence to 22 years.
Hunkarin was sentenced to two years imprisonment, also without the option of a fine, for his role in the conspiracy to import the 800 grams of cocaine.
According to court records, Chinedu was first arraigned in September 2015 on a one-count charge of importing 6.250 kilograms of cocaine. Although he pleaded not guilty and was granted bail, he absconded during the trial and remained on the run for nearly 10 years.
The NDLEA rearrested him on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, after he allegedly attempted to smuggle another 800 grams of cocaine into Nigeria aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa.
Investigators told the court that Chinedu had travelled from Turkey and transited through Ethiopia, where he allegedly collected the cocaine-filled luggage from another individual before arriving in Lagos.
Further investigations led to the arrest of Hunkarin, a former professional footballer who had played for clubs in Brazil. He was allegedly waiting at the airport car park to receive the drug consignment from Chinedu.
The NDLEA said Hunkarin admitted during interrogation that he had trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia while pursuing his football career in South America.
Both men were subsequently arraigned on a three-count charge marked FHC/L/669C/2025 over the importation of the 800 grams of cocaine.
During the trial, NDLEA prosecutor Adekunle Adebajo urged the court to impose stiff penalties, recalling that Chinedu had jumped bail after his 2015 arraignment before Justice Salihu Sa’idu, who has since retired.
Lawyers representing the convicts appealed for leniency and asked the court to consider fines instead of custodial sentences, but Justice Kakaki rejected the plea and imposed prison terms without the option of a fine.
Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the conviction as proof that drug traffickers would eventually face justice regardless of how long they evade arrest.
Marwa also commended NDLEA officers involved in the case, saying Chinedu’s rearrest after nearly a decade on the run demonstrated the agency’s determination to track down fugitives and ensure they are prosecuted.
