A fugitive drug baron, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, has been convicted and sentenced to a total of 22 years imprisonment for the unlawful importation of 7.050 kilograms of cocaine.
Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court delivered the judgment on Friday after finding Chinedu guilty of charges brought against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
His co-defendant, Hunkarin Segun George, a former international footballer, was also convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment for conspiring with Chinedu to unlawfully import 800 grams of cocaine into Nigeria.
The court sentenced Chinedu to 20 years imprisonment for the unlawful importation of 6.250 kilograms of cocaine. He was also sentenced to an additional two years for conspiracy and the unlawful importation of 800 grams of cocaine, bringing his total jail term to 22 years.
Court records showed that Chinedu was first arraigned in September 2015 in a case marked FHC/L/227C/2015 on a charge of unlawfully importing 6.250 kilograms of cocaine.
Although he pleaded not guilty and was granted bail, he absconded while the trial was ongoing and remained at large for several years.
He was eventually re-arrested on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, during the inward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa after he was allegedly found with 800 grams of cocaine.
Following his arrest, he was re-arraigned alongside Hunkarin Segun George on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and unlawful importation of cocaine.
At the resumed hearing, defence counsel Benson Ndakara, representing Chinedu, and Emefo Etudo, representing George, informed the court that their clients wished to change their earlier not-guilty pleas.
The court subsequently took fresh guilty pleas before the prosecution, led by Adekunle Adebajo, reviewed the facts of the case.
Adebajo told the court that Chinedu had earlier been arraigned before Justice Salihu Sa’idu (now retired) in 2015 but jumped bail and disappeared before his trial could be concluded.
The prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the relevant provisions of the NDLEA Act.
In mitigation, the defence lawyers pleaded for leniency and urged the court to impose fines instead of custodial sentences.
However, in his judgment, Justice Kakaki held that the prosecution had established its case and sentenced Chinedu to 20 years imprisonment without the option of a fine on the principal charge.
The judge also sentenced Chinedu and George to two years imprisonment each, without the option of a fine, on the conspiracy charge.
