Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have taken into custody a pastor and his wife in Lagos after allegedly uncovering 11 kilograms of skunk concealed within specially modified compartments of their sports-utility vehicle (SUV).
The suspects, Pastor Afolabi Hodonu, 45, who is said to be in charge of the Celestial Church of Christ, Agonvi Sea Beach, in the Sakpo area of Seme border, Badagry, and his wife, Mrs Success Hodonu, 35, were arrested on Thursday, April 2, at the Gbaji checkpoint.
Details of the arrest were contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed that the illicit drugs were recovered during a search of the couple’s Honda Pilot SUV.
“The pastor in-charge of the Celestial Church of Christ, Agonvi Sea Beach, Sakpo area of Seme border, Badagry in Lagos state, Pastor Afolabi Hodonu, 45, and his wife, Mrs. Success Hodonu, 35, were on Thursday 2nd April arrested by NDLEA operatives at Gbaji checkpoint. “A search of their Honda Pilot SUV led to the recovery of blocks of skunk weighing 11kg concealed in hidden parts of their vehicle”, he said.
Babafemi explained that the arrest was linked to an earlier operation at the same checkpoint on Monday, March 30, where officers intercepted a suspected impostor security agent, Sunday Samuel, 35, who was allegedly transporting 24.5 kilograms of skunk from Seme border into Lagos.
Subsequent investigations into that seizure, he said, led to the apprehension of the cleric and his wife. “The arrest of the couple followed the apprehension of a fake security agent Sunday Samuel, 35, at the same checkpoint on Monday 30th March while conveying 24.5kg skunk from Seme border to Lagos.
The development was part of a series of operations conducted by the anti-narcotics agency across the country within the past week,” Babafemi said.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers involved, reaffirming the agency’s resolve to dismantle drug networks regardless of the status of those involved.
