A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, a fugitive drug kingpin, and Segun George Hunkarin, a former international footballer, to a total of 24 years in prison for bringing cocaine into Nigeria.
Justice Musa Kakaki gave the judgment on Monday after finding both men guilty of illegally importing cocaine. The case was brought by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Chinedu was sentenced to 20 years in prison without the option of a fine for importing 6.25 kilograms of cocaine. He also got two more years for working with Hunkarin to bring in another 800 grams, making his total sentence 22 years.
Hunkarin received a two-year prison sentence, also without the option of a fine, for helping to import the 800 grams of cocaine.
Court records show that Chinedu was first charged in September 2015 for importing 6.25 kilograms of cocaine. He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail, but he fled during the trial and stayed on the run for almost 10 years.
The NDLEA arrested him again on June 24, 2025, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. He was allegedly trying to bring another 800 grams of cocaine into Nigeria on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa.
Investigators told the court that Chinedu had travelled from Turkey and transited through Ethiopia, where he allegedly collected the cocaine-filled luggage from another individual before arriving in Lagos.
Further investigations led to the arrest of Hunkarin, a former professional footballer who had played for clubs in Brazil. He was allegedly waiting at the airport car park to receive the drug consignment from Chinedu.
The NDLEA said Hunkarin admitted during interrogation that he had trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia while pursuing his football career in South America.
Both men were subsequently arraigned on a three-count charge marked FHC/L/669C/2025 over the importation of the 800 grams of cocaine.
During the trial, NDLEA prosecutor Adekunle Adebajo urged the court to impose stiff penalties, recalling that Chinedu had jumped bail after his 2015 arraignment before Justice Salihu Sa’idu, who has since retired.
Lawyers representing the convicts appealed for leniency and asked the court to consider fines instead of custodial sentences, but Justice Kakaki rejected the plea and imposed prison terms without the option of a fine.
Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the conviction as proof that drug traffickers would eventually face justice regardless of how long they evade arrest.
Marwa also commended NDLEA officers involved in the case, saying Chinedu’s rearrest after nearly a decade on the run demonstrated the agency’s determination to track down fugitives and ensure they are prosecuted.