Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have saved the life of 59-year-old businessman Chijioke Igbokwe, who underwent emergency surgery to remove 57 out of 81 pellets of cocaine he had swallowed.
The surgery, an exploratory laparotomy, was performed after Igbokwe, who had ingested the illicit drug in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, spent seven days struggling to excrete the pellets.
He was arrested on January 26, 2025, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, during the inward clearance of passengers from an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
According to a statement from the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, a body scan revealed the presence of illicit drugs in Igbokwe’s system.
He was immediately placed under observation at the agency’s medical facility. “Investigations revealed that Igbokwe, a clothing trader at Arena, Oshodi, Lagos, had ingested 81 wraps of cocaine on January 23 while in Addis Ababa,” Babafemi said. “He had planned to deliver the consignment to Beirut for $3,000 but was denied entry into Lebanon for not meeting the required financial threshold.”
Igbokwe then attempted to excrete the drugs in Addis Ababa but was unsuccessful. He traveled to Lagos on January 25, still carrying the drugs, and was arrested upon arrival. After five days of observation, only 24 pellets had been expelled.
“With complications arising from his underlying medical conditions, Igbokwe underwent an exploratory laparotomy on January 30 to remove the remaining 57 pellets,” Babafemi explained. His wife and brother signed consent forms before the procedure.
In total, the NDLEA recovered 1.943 kilograms of cocaine from Igbokwe’s body.
In a separate operation on January 29, NDLEA operatives intercepted a massive shipment of Ghanaian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, at Lekki Beach.
Two suspects, Sunday Awoyede and Christopher Cletus, were arrested while attempting to load the 2,000 kilograms of cannabis onto a truck.
Babafemi also disclosed that another suspect, Lawal Idris Olasunkanmi, was arrested the same day with 55 kilograms of skunk during a raid at his residence in the Mushin area of Lagos.
