A former professional footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, and suspected drug kingpin, Ntoruka Chinedu, have been sentenced to a combined 24 years in prison for cocaine-related offences.
The Federal High Court in Lagos handed down the sentences after convicting the two men over the unlawful importation of cocaine.
Justice Musa Kakaki sentenced Chinedu to 22 years in prison, while Hunkarin received a two-year jail term for conspiracy.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said Chinedu had initially been arrested and arraigned in 2015 for allegedly importing 6.25 kilogrammes of cocaine but later jumped bail and remained a fugitive for almost a decade.
According to the agency, he was eventually rearrested on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos while allegedly attempting to bring 800 grammes of cocaine into Nigeria from Ethiopia.
The NDLEA said Chinedu had travelled from Turkey and passed through Addis Ababa, where he allegedly picked up a luggage containing the illicit substance before boarding a flight to Lagos.
Hunkarin, who reportedly played professional football in Brazil, was arrested in the airport car park while allegedly waiting to receive the consignment.
The anti-narcotics agency said investigations further revealed that Hunkarin had previously admitted to trafficking drugs from Brazil to Ethiopia on two occasions during his football career.
The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said the investigation showed that Hunkarin had been waiting at the airport to collect the cocaine from Chinedu.
Babafemi said, “Further checks revealed that an accomplice who turned out to be a former professional footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, was waiting for Chinedu at the airport car park to collect the consignment from him.”
The two men were subsequently prosecuted on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy and the unlawful importation of 800 grammes of cocaine.
During the proceedings, NDLEA prosecutor, Adekunle Adebajo, urged the court to convict the defendants in accordance with the provisions of the NDLEA Act.
Counsel to the convicts, however, appealed to the court for leniency and requested that the sentences be converted to fines.
The court declined the request and imposed custodial sentences.
Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the conviction as evidence of the judiciary’s determination to support the fight against drug trafficking.
Marwa said, “The eventual re-arrest of Chinedu after nearly 10 years on the run demonstrated 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 commended the NDLEA personnel involved in the arrest, investigation and prosecution of the case, assuring that the agency would continue to work 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.
