NDLEA Arrests Wanted Lagos Pastor Over Cross-Border Drug Trafficking

Matilda Omonaiye/

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, for allegedly masterminding multiple shipments of illicit drugs into Nigeria.

The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said the cleric was apprehended on August 3, 2025, at his church located in Okun Ajah, Ogombo Road, Lekki, Lagos. Officers reportedly laid siege to the premises from morning until the end of the evening service before arresting him as he stepped out.

According to Babafemi, Olasele had been on the run since June after operatives linked him to two intercepted shipments of “Ghana Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis. The first consignment, weighing 200kg, was seized at Okun Ajah Beach on June 4, while a second haul of 700kg was recovered from his delivery van on July 6.

“In his statement, he admitted ferrying the illicit consignments through the waterways from Ghana into Nigeria and fleeing to Ghana after evading arrest twice,” Babafemi said.

In a separate operation in Lagos on August 7, NDLEA officers raided an apartment at Kishi House, 11 Layi Ajayi Bembe Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, where they arrested one Benjamin Udo Ukoh and recovered 32 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 15.63kg.

In Nasarawa State, operatives on August 9 intercepted a consignment of skunk weighing 3,093kg from three suspects — Emmanuel Asoquo Johnny, 51; Okem Raphael, 33; and Chekwube Odo, 25 — at New Karu. On August 8 in Kano, 29-year-old Nura Yahaya was arrested in Geza, Kumbotso LGA, with 639 blocks of skunk weighing 359kg, while on August 6, 27-year-old Umar Adamu Umar was nabbed along Zaria-Kano Road with 9kg of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis strain.

The same route yielded another arrest on August 8, when 30-year-old Usman Musa was caught with 20,000 tramadol pills and 200 ampoules of diazepam injection.

In Gombe State, a raid on an uncompleted building at Tudun Wadan Pantami on August 8 led to the seizure of 550,266 opioid pills, mostly tramadol, and the arrest of Usama Isah. The following day, 23-year-old Ibrahim Adamu was arrested along Potiskum Road, Bajoga, with 50,000 tramadol capsules.

Also in Edo State, operatives intercepted a white Toyota Hiace bus at Ewu Junction on August 6, recovering 23,940 tramadol capsules, 1,100 tablets of the same drug, and 400 ampoules of pentazocine injection. The suspect, identified as Taiye Jethro, was arrested.

Babafemi said the NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaign continued across the country, with enlightenment programmes in schools, military formations, trade associations, and legislative offices in Oyo, Kano, Yobe, Benue, Ekiti, and Anambra states.

NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the Lagos, Nasarawa, Gombe, Kano, and Edo Commands for their arrests and seizures, urging officers nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.