By Emma Njoku
Lagos socialite and owner of Adekaz Hotels, Alhaji Ademola Afolabi Kazeem (a.k.a Alhaji Abdallah Kazeem Muhammed) has been declared wanted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), over offences bordering on exportation and trafficking of illicit drugs as well as money laundering.
Kazeem is wanted for allegedly failing to honour NDLEA’s invitations and an order granted the agency by a Federal High Court, Lagos, on Monday, October 17, 2022.
A statement by the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, yesterday, disclosed that he was uncovered as the sponsor of some traffickers arrested by the anti-narcotics agency, in their recent attempt to export cocaine to Dubai, UAE, and other destinations outside Nigeria.
“Soon after the arrest of one of his mules, Bolujoko Muyiwa Babalola, a Lagos BRT driver on June 27, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Alhaji Ademola Kazeem, who is also the Chairman, Adekaz Global Integrated Services, went underground.
“Following his failure to honour invitations sent to him, the agency approached a Federal High Court in Lagos with three prayers: to attach and seal his identified properties in Lagos and Ibadan; declare him wanted and block his bank account with a cash balance N217,000,000.00, all of which were granted.
“As a result, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 sealed six of the identified properties located on Lagos Island.
They include: 105 Tokunbo street off Broad street, Lagos Island; 1 Abibu Oki street off Marina, Lagos Island; 3 Abibu Oki street off Marina, Lagos Island; 54 Palm Church street, Lagos Island; 26 Agarawu street, Lagos Island; and 41 Foresythe street, Lagos Island. The other one is located at 1 Irepodun zone, Adepoju bus stop, Ajoda Ayedun, Ibadan, Oyo State,” the statement revealed.
In a related development, the agency, last Friday, arrested another drug baron, Udemezue Obunike William, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, on his return from Brazil. His arrest with the support of the Nigeria Immigration Service followed the earlier arrest of some drug couriers linked to Udemezue as their sponsor. They include two mules: Messrs Adolphus Anayochukwu Okeke and Anayo Michael Nnanna.
The 52-year-old father of four children who claimed to be a businessman, Okeke Adolphus Anayochukwu, was arrested at the Abuja airport by NDLEA operatives with 20.75 kilograms of black liquid cocaine on Tuesday, March 15, upon his arrival onboard Qatar Airways flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil, through Doha, Qatar to Abuja. The liquid was discovered upon search of his luggage stuffed with six smaller bags containing 32-makeup mascara, which tested positive to cocaine.
On the other hand, a Brazilian returnee, Nnanna Anayo Michael, 39, was arrested at the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), during the inward screening of passengers on board Qatar Airline flight QR1433 from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Doha to Port Harcourt, last Tuesday. Nnanna was arrested with 73 sachets weighing 8.15 kilograms of cocaine, which is the largest seizure of such at the airport, since it began international flight operations years ago.
Further investigations of the two traffickers revealed Udemezue Obunike William as the drug baron behind the cocaine cartel. As a result, he was watch-listed and arrested upon his return from Brazil last Friday.
In his reaction, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended the officers and men of the agency involved in the clinical investigation that led to the unmasking of the two barons. He warned that the new NDLEA will continue to unravel them one after the other if they fail to back out of the criminal trade.