Drug traffickers relocate to Enugu International Airport

Emeka Ibemere, reports that drug barons and their foot soldier-traffickers are moving down to the former capital of the defunct Biafra Republic, South-East Nigeria.

In the last one month, since the opening of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, Enugu State, the record of arrests at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos State, have dropped drastically. The reason, according to our investigation is not far-fetched- the move is unconnected to the new International Airport recently commissioned by the Federal Government.

Checks by this correspondent revealed that drug peddlers are catching on the lack of modern drug equipment at the new airport to make brisk movement without being nabbed. These are the attractions for the new movement by the drug couriers from MMI, Lagos to the Enugu Airport.

At the moment, it was gathered that NDLEA are making use of the only one United Nations donated drug testing kit, profiling of suspects, random searching, and old fashion style of guess work to make arrests, a situation that experts suggest won’t serve the expected professional work of the agency.

At the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, the Agency’s investigative capacity has been greatly enhanced over the years with the scanners provided by the United States Government in the past.

The only four scanners are at the Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.

Investigations also showed that there are no drug explosive-detecting itemizers for use at the Akanu Ibiam international airport. Only the former four international airports in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt are using the itemizers.

An NDLEA source at the MMIA Lagos who spoke on condition of anonymity said traffickers are likely and increasingly exploiting the Enugu airport to avoid the risk of detection travelling through MMIA where body scanners and itemizers are being used to track them down.

He stated that the NDLEA at the Akanu Ibiam international Airport needs an important new tool in the anti-drug trafficking war at the Enugu airport.

According to airport source, the agency at the Enugu requires an arsenal of full body scanner that will enable NDLEA operatives to perform quick, non-evasive searches of suspected drug traffickers and to locate illegal drugs or other contrabands anywhere they try to hid the drugs.

The source said the airport needs at least two body scanners that will enable NDLEA operatives discharge their duties effectively.  “The standard all over the world is to have one scanner dedicated to arriving passengers, and one for departing passengers, if the Enugu airport was to make effective arrest of influx of traffickers who have capitalized on the absence of all these equipment at the new airport”, our source revealed.

Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu, also known as Enugu Airport, is an airport serving Enugu the capital city of Enugu State of Nigeria. The airport is named after the late Akanu Ibiam (1906-1995), a Medical Doctor and Statesman who hailed from Afikpo in Ebonyi State.

The airport was closed on February 10, 2010, by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for the first phase of major renovation and expansion works. The airport was re-opened on 16 December 2010, but the second and third phase of the construction works was completed.

On August 25, a historic first international commercial flight landed at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu on Saturday amidst jubilation from thousands of South-East residents.

The Ethiopian Airline Boeing 737-800 with registration number ET-APL, touched down at exactly 12:15 p.m heralded the commencement of international flight at the Enugu airport.

The passengers were from different parts of the world, including London, China, South-Africa.

Federal government’s delegation to the event was led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

Other personalities that welcomed the eventful plane were Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Governors Sullivan Chime, Peter Obi, Theodore Orji and Martin Elechi of Enugu, Anambra, Abia and Ebonyi respectively.

Also in the entourage were minister of aviation, Princess Stella Odua, minister of finance, Prof. Ngozi Okonjo Iwela, power minister, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, health minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, among others.

Speaking on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan, the SGF said “this is a promise kept”.

“Remember, many promises have been given on this airport by many administrations, but when President Jonathan came, he promised and today he has delivered. It is a dream comes through for the people of south east”.

But barely few weeks after that memorable occasion, that saw the commencement of international flights at the newly Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu; Chizoba Anslem Nwabuwa, 32 entered the National Drug Law Enforcement record as the first drug suspect to be arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu.

According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the arrest was its first arrest and cocaine seizure at the airport. The suspect is still being investigated by the agency.

The 400 Levels Fine and Applied Arts student was apprehended during the inward screening of passengers on an Ethiopian flight from Brazil enroute Addis-Ababa. He was found to have ingested liquid cocaine packed inside male condoms.

The head of the NDLEA at the Enugu Airport, Mr Nsikak-Abasi Udoh who confirmed the arrest said that the suspect excreted 25 wraps of a liquid that tested positive for cocaine.

“The suspect excreted twenty-five (25) wraps of liquid substance. When tested with the United Nations drug testing kit, it tested positive for cocaine weighing 1.250kg. This first arrest and seizure is exciting to us because we just commenced operations,” Nsikak-Abasi stated. The suspect didn’t deny the crime.

 “I am a 400 level student of Fine & Applied Arts at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. I wanted to use the half a million naira (N500, 000), they promised to pay me in developing my Art Gallery. They assured me in Brazil that authorities will not be able to detect liquid cocaine, so I was confident. Unfortunately, things have turned-out the other way. I regret my involvement in drug trafficking”, Chizoba quipped.

 Chizoba hails from Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Chairman of NDLEA Ahmadu Giade expressed satisfaction with the arrest. “The Agency accords high priority attention to all the airports. We shall continue to up-scale our operations at the airports and prevent drug trafficking syndicates from using the nation’s airports”. Giade Stated.

The drug Czar urged members of the public to pursue legitimate businesses at all times noting that a good name is far better than ill-gotten wealth.  Mitchell Ofoyeju, the Public Relations Officer of the agency, stated that the suspect would soon be charged to court for drug running.

With closer to the Christmas rush by traffickers, it’s expected that more Chizoba would bank on the poor facilities, lack of adequate drug detecting kits, absence of sniffer dogs at the new airport to make drug trips. However, the poor funding of the NDLEA, may not allow the agency to install new scanners at the Enugu airport. Checks revealed that it will cosy NDLEA a huge sum of $225,000, to purchase and installed a new scanner while itemizers will also cost $I million about N17million to install.

  The NDLEA enforces laws against drug trafficking and abuse and plays the lead role in demand reduction and drug control policy development.

Weak inter-agency cooperation contributes to the dearth of apprehensions of major traffickers. Although all law enforcement elements have representatives at Nigeria’s ports of entry, joint operations between them are rare. NDLEA has no adequate resources to combat sophisticated international criminal networks.

The NDLEA has made good use of U.S.-provided technology and training. Most of the organization’s drug seizures occur at airports using U.S.-donated body scanners, with the vast majority occurring at MMIA. The NDLEA faces challenges with arresting the higher level drug traffickers and financiers who organize the regular traffic of low-level drug couriers.

Although there have been some reports of asset seizures since 2010, but NDLEA do not systematically use asset seizure as enforcement tool against traffickers and money launderers. The NDLEA reported no money laundering convictions in 2012. Asset forfeiture remains challenging in Nigeria, which lacks non-conviction based forfeiture or plea bargaining laws. Without an appropriate plea bargaining mechanism, the NDLEA encounters difficulty winning cooperation from low-level couriers to build cases against criminal gang bosses. Another problem lies with Nigeria’s courts, where intimidation and corruption are common.

Marijuana is the most common illicit drug produced in Nigeria, though in 2012, the NDLEA discovered four clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Lagos. Traffickers sell marijuana in Nigeria and export it through West Africa and into Europe, but little reaches the United States. The NDLEA continues to pursue an aggressive eradication campaign, which destroyed 893.9 hectares of marijuana cultivation between January and September 2012.

The introduction of vigorous interdiction regimes at Nigeria’s five major seaports and its porous land borders would likely yield significant seizures. Drug seizures at the MMIA have increased by 60 percent from last year. Between January and October 2012, the NDLEA Command at MMIA seized 64.1 kg of cannabis, 64.8 kg of cocaine, 61.7 kg of heroin, 77.6 kg of methamphetamine, and 31.8 kg of ephedrine, a precursor chemical used to produce methamphetamine. But with the Enugu airport going operational last month it’s expected that the percent of arrests at MMIA is going to drop.

Just last month, The US envoy donated some technical equipment to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Lagos and said that the equipment will be used in the establishment of a Centre for intelligence sharing between the two countries.
“NDLEA is a great partner for the United States in drug control. The United States embarks on serious war against narcotics and we are proud to contribute in developing the capacity of the NDLEA through the establishment of a Centre for intelligence sharing” Hawkins stated.

Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Ahmadu Giade who received the items said that the country’s partnership with the United States has been very fruitful.

 “The relationship between the United States Government and the Government of Nigeria has been characterized by similar gestures in the area of technical support. It is important to acknowledge your sustained determination to support Nigeria in winning the fight against notorious drug trafficking syndicates. This assistance to the Agency is highly treasured” Giade stated.
The NDLEA boss attributed the high performance of the Agency to the growing support and partnership it has with the United States. In his words, “our collaboration in the area of intelligence gathering and joint operations has undisputedly led to high profile seizures and arrests. Training remains vital to the success of any intelligence-driven task like drug control. Your training programmes for operatives as well as high level seminars and workshops have helped greatly to enhance the capacity of personnel. We are appreciative of your support and highly motivated by your continued determination to extend our frontiers of success in the drug war”. According to Giade, “the Agency’s investigative capacity at the airports has been greatly enhanced with the provision of scanners by the United States Government. The Agency will continue to justify the confidence you repose in us”. We hope we can count on your advocacy support to ensure that more attention and resources are devoted to the all-important war against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking” Giade stated. Several United States and United Nations agencies have in the past donated scanners to the agency. Perhaps, they may do that for the Enugu airport.