Edo court jails eleven drug offenders for 79 years with hard labour
The Federal High Court in Benin City sentenced eleven drug offenders, nine men and two women, to a combined 79 years with hard labour in October 2025, including 15 years for wanted cannabis baron Alaba Monday, as announced by NDLEA Edo commander Mitchell Ofoyeju on 6 November.
🇳🇬 Federal High Court, Benin City, Edo State · Nigeria
The Federal High Court sitting in Benin City, presided over by Justice
Babatunde Olaide Quadiri and Justice (Prof) Chuka Austine Obiozor, sentenced
eleven drug offenders, nine men and two women, to a combined 79 years in
prison with hard labour.[1][2]NDLEA Edo State Commander Mitchell Ofoyeju
announced the October convictions in a statement on Thursday 6 November
2025.[1][2]
Among the standout cases was wanted drug baron Alaba Monday, 49, caught with
115 kilograms of cannabis, who received 15 years with a N3 million fine.[1][2]Cannabis cultivator Abel Edah, found with 5 kilograms and a 0.678
hectare farm, received a concurrent two-year sentence on each count with a
N5 million fine option per count.[1][2]
Samuel Samson and Daniel Peter, sentenced for unlawful possession and
cultivation of cannabis sativa, each received two years or a N5 million fine
option.[1][2]Emmanuel Nwosu received 15 years with a N750,000 fine option
for possessing 276 grams of cannabis, while Atari Israel received two years
with a N2.5 million fine for possessing and transporting 9 kilograms of
cannabis, and the court ordered the forfeiture of his navy-blue Audi station
wagon.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The sentences were passed in October 2025 but the exact sentencing dates were not stated; 6 November is the date of the NDLEA announcement.
Lucky Aligbe's 25-year sentence covers cannabis plus tramadol, swinol and diazepam with no separable cannabis weight, so it is kept out of the cannabis figures.
Bella Fredrick's two-year sentence for 29 grams of methamphetamine is a separate non-cannabis event left out here.
Most fines were stated as options to imprisonment; whether any convict paid instead of serving time was not reported.
Justice Akintayo Aluko jailed businesswoman Jumoke Akinusi for 18 months, or a 500,000 naira fine, after she pleaded guilty to exporting 1.10 kilograms of cannabis to Cape Verde. The NDLEA said she sent the drug through Murtala Muhammed International Airport on 14 August 2026.
An estate agent, Salami Abideen Jide, pleaded guilty on 15 October 2026 at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, to procuring and importing 32.2 kilograms of cannabis sativa from Canada, and was and the judge sentenced him to six years in prison, with the option of a six million naira fine.
Charged 1Prison six years (reported as three years on each of two counts, running concurrently)Fine NGN 6,000,000
A Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced 60-year-old Chinese woman Ting Hong Kiong to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to importing 31 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa. The judge ordered the term to run from her arrest at Murtala Muhammed International Airport on 17 May 2026, and the court imposed no option of a fine.
On 17 March 2026 Justice M.N. Yunusa of the Federal High Court in Kano sentenced Jonathan Nuhu, 45, of Kanke in Plateau State, to 15 years for unlawful possession of cannabis. NDLEA had arrested him on 20 July 2023 near Wudil Bridge with 116 bags; he was already on bail from a 2021 Jigawa sentence for a similar offence.