Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended the resident pastor of the Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim at Agodo-Egbe, Ikotun Lagos over alleged unlawful exportation of 174 kilogrammes of narcotic drugs to South Africa.
The suspect, Prophet Michael Raji was arrested following the interception of the drug at the cargo section of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) during pre-shipment examination.
Preliminary investigation has indicated that the 60 year old suspect, Michael Raji is a suspected top member of a drug syndicate operating in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.
He had three international passports bearing his photographs.
One of the passports bears the name Michael Raji while the other two bear the name Kadigun Fatah Ola.
It was equally discovered that the church premises where he ministers also serves as a warehouse for narcotics.
The seized drugs concealed inside large bags of foodstuff were found to contain 91kg of Methamphetamine and 83kg of Ephedrine with an estimated street value of 609 million naira.
A Mercedes Benz Jeep was also impounded during the operation.
NDLEA commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar described the suspect as a smooth operator.
“I can tell you that this suspect is a smooth operator but we have uncovered his bag of tricks. The drugs were brought to the airport for export to South Africa where it was detected. Investigation eventually traced the movement of the drugs to his church premises where he was arrested”, Hamza stated.
An NDLEA source said that the suspect in his statement claimed that he collected the drugs from a friend.
“I received the drugs from my friend and I kept them in the church since October 2014. I am the resident pastor of Cherubim and Seraphim Agodo-Egbe, Ikotun branch, Lagos. I attended Ansarudeen Primary and Secondary School Ibadan. I later attended Yaba College of Technology where I had my Trade Test in Electrical Installation. I was ordained a full time pastor in 1977. This is a great temptation for me and I pray to God to overcome it”, Michael Raji was quotes as saying.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Ahmadu Giade said that the game was up for the suspect.
“The game is up for the suspect and we have strong evidence for prosecution. This is one of the largest seizures of psychotropic substances at the airport. We are working very hard to apprehend other accomplices and bring them to book”, Giade stated.
The NDLEA boss further called on members of the public to continue to support the NDLEA by volunteering useful information on drug trafficking syndicates.
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