The Edo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully tracked down, re-arrested, and arraigned a 50-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Ibrahim Yusuf Lawal, who jumped court bail and was fraudulently declared dead by his wife in a bizarre plot to evade criminal prosecution.
The extraordinary development was made public on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, by the Edo State Commander of the NDLEA, Mitchell Ofoyeju.
Lawal’s legal troubles originally began on February 5, 2022, when he was intercepted by anti-narcotics operatives at Ugbekun Junction in the Esan Central Local Government Area of Edo State while driving a white Toyota bus with registration number BWR 401 XC Abuja.
A physical search at the time uncovered 0.257kg of Lexotan, 1kg of Diazepam, and 5.4kg of Phenobarbital concealed within the vehicle.
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He was subsequently arraigned on a three-count charge bordering on the unlawful transportation of controlled psychotropic substances.
Although Lawal pleaded not guilty and secured bail from the Federal High Court in Benin, he immediately absconded.
To permanently freeze the trial, the suspect's wife, Ibrahim Nana Hawa, submitted a formal affidavit to the court asserting that her husband had tragically died on October 3, 2024, following a protracted battle with tuberculosis, and had been buried in Okene, Kogi State, under strict Islamic rites.
Unconvinced by the claim, the NDLEA launched a discreet inter-state intelligence operation, discovering that Lawal was fully alive.
Operatives cornered him in a covert sting operation and hauled him back before Justice B.O. Quadir, who adjourned the resurrected case to June 22, 2026.
Commander Ofoyeju warned that the agency has initiated steps to prosecute the suspect’s wife and all accomplices for their roles in the judicial forgery.
#NDLEANigeria #IbrahimYusufLawal #DrugTrafficking #EdoStateNews #MitchellOfoyeju #FakeDeathAffidavit #FederalHighCourt #Okene
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