By Lizzy Chirkpi
A fugitive drug kingpin who evaded justice for nearly a decade and a former professional footballer have been sentenced to a combined 24 years’ imprisonment for importing cocaine into Nigeria.
Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court in Lagos convicted and sentenced Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu and former international footballer Segun George Hunkarin for the unlawful importation of 7.050 kilograms of cocaine, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said on Monday.
Chinedu was sentenced to 22 years in prison, while Hunkarin received a two-year jail term. Both sentences carry no option of a fine.
The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement that Chinedu was first arraigned in September 2015 for importing 6.250 kilograms of cocaine but jumped bail during his trial and remained a fugitive for almost 10 years.
According to the agency, Chinedu was re-arrested on June 24, 2025, by NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while attempting to smuggle another 800 grams of cocaine into the country aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Hunkarin, who previously played professional football in Brazil, was waiting in the airport car park to receive the drug consignment.
“In his statement, Hunkarin claimed that while playing professional football in Brazil, he trafficked drugs on only two occasions from Brazil to Ethiopia,” Babafemi said.
Following their arrest, both men were arraigned on a three-count charge, marked FHC/L/669C/2025, bordering on the unlawful importation of 800 grams of cocaine.
Delivering judgment on July 24, 2026, Justice Kakaki sentenced Chinedu to 20 years’ imprisonment without the option of a fine for importing 6.250 kilograms of cocaine. The court also imposed an additional two-year sentence for conspiring with Hunkarin to import the 800-gram cocaine consignment.
Hunkarin was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for his role in the conspiracy.
During the trial, NDLEA prosecutor Adekunle Adebajo reminded the court that Chinedu had originally been arraigned in 2015 before Justice Salihu Saidu but absconded after being granted bail. He urged the court to impose penalties in accordance with the provisions of the NDLEA Act.
Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the conviction as a reaffirmation of the judiciary’s commitment to combating drug trafficking.
“This conviction is a reaffirmation of the courts’ commitment to ridding the country of drug trafficking and those who perpetrate it, no matter how long they evade justice,” Marwa said.
He said Chinedu’s eventual arrest after nearly a decade on the run demonstrated the agency’s persistence in tracking down wanted drug traffickers.
“His eventual arrest after almost 10 years in hiding demonstrates the doggedness, patience and thoroughness of NDLEA operatives in tracking down fugitives and ensuring that no drug trafficker escapes the long arm of the law,” he added.
Marwa reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to working closely with the judiciary and other stakeholders to ensure that drug traffickers are brought to justice, regardless of their status or how long they evade arrest.