The suspect
A notorious
drug baron and former vice chairman of Lagos Island East local council
development area, LCDA, Asekun Kehinde Sakiru, has been arrested by operatives
of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA at the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.
In released
signed by the Agency’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi in Abuja
yesterday, revealed that the suspect has been on the wanted list of the agency
as some traffickers have been linked to him.
It reads, “Asekun
has been on the wanted list of the Agency following the recent arrest of some
traffickers and drug seizures linked to him. The long arm of the law however
caught up with the wanted baron at about 9.40pm on Friday 7th May, 2021 while
trying to board a Virgin Atlantic airline flight to London, United Kingdom at
the Lagos airport.”
" At the point of his arrest, Asekun was caught with a kilogramme of cocaine concealed
in five pairs of palm slippers packed inside his suitcase. He has been on the
wanted list of the MMIA Command of the Agency in connection to a case involving
one Azeez Adeniyi Ibrahim who was arrested with 6.45kg of cocaine in December,
2020.”
“During
preliminary investigation, it was gathered that the London based baron is a
seasoned politician. He was at different times between 2004 and 2014 the vice
chairman of Lagos Island East LCDA. He had also contested and lost elections
for House of Representatives in 2007 and Lagos State House of Assembly in 2015.”
“Although,
he claims to be an international businessman who deals in automobiles,
investigation is yet to confirm that to be the source of his acquired wealth.”
“In the course of tracking him, the sum of N131million was
seized from his account and another N14 million also blocked in the account of
one of his traffickers, Azeez Adeniyi Ibrahim, bringing the total sum so far
recovered from him to N145 million.”
“While
commending the officers and men of the MMIA Command of the Agency for
resilience and dedication to duty, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig.
General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) said with the support of all stakeholders, the
problem of drug trafficking and abuse in Nigeria will be drastically reduced
very soon”.
“This
arrest is yet another message and red alert to those still in this criminal
trade whether as barons or traffickers that they will soon enter the dragnet of
the Agency, daily being spread across the country, if they fail to back out
especially now that we are moving all out for the barons and the big cartels
while we continue to reign in the traffickers”, Gen. Marwa warned in his
reaction.
Cocaine hidden in slippers on board to London