A former Nigerian international footballer, Hunkarin Segun George, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for conspiring to import cocaine into Nigeria, while an alleged drug kingpin, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, bagged a 22-year jail term for multiple cocaine importation offences.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency disclosed on Sunday that Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court in Lagos convicted and sentenced the duo to a combined 24 years imprisonment after finding them guilty of offences involving 7.05 kilogrammes of cocaine.
According to the anti-narcotics agency, Chinedu was first arraigned in September 2015 on a one-count charge bordering on the unlawful importation of 6.25kg of cocaine.
The agency said although he pleaded not guilty and was granted bail, he jumped bail and remained a fugitive for nearly a decade before he was re-arrested.
NDLEA said the suspect was apprehended on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while allegedly attempting to smuggle another 800 grammes of cocaine into the country aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa.
The agency said investigations revealed that Chinedu had travelled from Turkey and transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the illicit consignment before heading to Nigeria.
It added that further investigations led operatives to Hunkarin, a former professional footballer who had played for clubs in Brazil, where he was allegedly waiting in the airport car park to receive the drug consignment.
“Hunkarin, who had stayed years in Brazil playing for football clubs, was promptly tracked and arrested at the car park,” the agency said.
The NDLEA further disclosed that the former footballer admitted during interrogation that he had trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia while pursuing his football career.
Following their arrest, both men were arraigned on a three-count charge marked FHC/L/669C/2025 over the unlawful importation of 800 grammes of cocaine.
In his judgment, Justice Kakaki sentenced Chinedu to 20 years imprisonment without an option of fine for importing the 6.25kg cocaine linked to the 2015 case.
The judge also handed him an additional two-year prison term, without the option of a fine, for conspiring with Hunkarin to import 800 grammes of cocaine, bringing his total sentence to 22 years.
Hunkarin was sentenced to two years imprisonment on the conspiracy charge without an option of fine.
During the trial, the NDLEA prosecutor, Adekunle Adebajo, reminded the court that Chinedu had initially been arraigned before Justice Salihu Saudi in 2015 but absconded after being admitted to bail.
He urged the court to convict the defendants in accordance with the provisions of the NDLEA Act.
However, counsel to Chinedu, Benson Ndakara, and counsel to Hunkarin, Emefo Etudo, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy by imposing fines instead of custodial sentences.
The court, after reviewing the evidence and submissions of both parties, declined the request and sentenced the convicts to prison terms.
Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the convictions as a reaffirmation of the judiciary’s commitment to combating drug trafficking.
Marwa also commended the operatives involved in Chinedu’s re-arrest, saying the successful tracking of the fugitive after nearly 10 years demonstrated the agency’s determination to ensure that drug traffickers face justice regardless of how long they evade arrest.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to working with the judiciary and other stakeholders to rid the country of illicit drug trafficking.
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