By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
LONG WANTED founder and self-acclaimed general overseer of a religious body called “The Turn of Mercy Church”, a prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for allegedly masterminding multiple shipments of illicit drugs into Nigeria.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect was apprehended on Sunday 3 August 2025 at his church in the Okun Ajah, Ogombo Road area of Lekki, Lagos, after officers waited for him to conclude a worship service.
The agency stated that Olasele had fled to Ghana to evade arrest following the interception of two consignments of Ghana Loud cannabis linked to him in June and July.
The first, weighing 200kg, was seized at Okun Ajah beach on 4 June, while a second, weighing 700kg, was recovered from his delivery van on 6 July.
The NDLEA said the cleric admitted in his statement that the drugs were ferried through waterways from Ghana and confirmed he had been hiding in the West African country.
In a separate operation in Lagos on Thursday 7 August, NDLEA officers raided an apartment in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, arresting Benjamin Udo Ukoh and recovering 15.63kg of Canadian Loud cannabis.
The agency further reported that on Saturday 9 August in Nasarawa State, 3,093kg of skunk cannabis was seized from three suspects in New Karu.
In Kano State, separate arrests between 6 and 8 August led to the recovery of 359kg of skunk, 9kg of Colorado cannabis, 20,000 tramadol pills and 200 ampoules of diazepam injection.
In Gombe State, a raid on 8 August yielded 550,266 pills of opioids, mainly tramadol, while another 50,000 capsules were intercepted the next day. In Edo State, 23,940 capsules of tramadol, 1,100 tablets and 400 ampoules of pentazocine injection were recovered from a commercial bus on 6 August.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the agency’s Lagos, Nasarawa, Gombe, Kano, and Edo Commands for the arrests and seizures, urging continued application of its balanced drug control strategy.
