The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has taken into custody Prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, over allegations linking him to multiple consignments of illicit drugs smuggled from Ghana into Nigeria.
Olasele, who had been evading arrest for several months, was captured on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at his church in Okun Ajah, Lekki, Lagos.
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According to a statement issued by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, operatives discreetly monitored the premises throughout the day and moved in immediately after the Sunday worship service concluded.
Babafemi explained that the suspect had escaped to Ghana in June after being connected to two separate seizures of cannabis — 200 kilograms discovered at Okun Ajah Beach on June 4, and 700 kilograms recovered from a delivery van on July 6.
“After months of fleeing abroad to evade arrest, the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele (alias Abbas Ajakaiye) has been arrested for masterminding multiple shipments of illicit drugs into Nigeria.
“Prophet Adefolusho was arrested at his church located in Okun Ajah, Ogombo road, Lekki area of Lagos on Sunday, 3rd August 2025 by NDLEA officers who waited for him since morning to conclude the Sunday worship service in the evening before moving in on him the moment he stepped out of the church premises.
“The arrest came after he had evaded arrest twice and fled to Ghana to hide since June, when operatives started trailing him following the seizure of two shipments of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis linked to him. The first seizure of 200kg of the psychoactive substance was made at Okun Ajah beach on 4th June 2025, while another consignment of 700kg of the same substance was recovered from his delivery van on 6th July 2025,” the statement read.
Babafemi further revealed that the clergyman admitted to transporting the drugs via water routes from Ghana.
He said, “In his statement, he admitted ferrying the illicit consignments through the waterways from Ghana into Nigeria, adding that he had fled to the West African country to hide after he escaped arrest twice in the recent past.”
In a related operation in Lagos on Thursday, August 7, NDLEA operatives stormed an apartment in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, arresting one Benjamin Ukoh and seizing 32 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 15.63 kilograms.
Meanwhile, in Nasarawa State on Saturday, August 9, the agency confiscated a massive haul of skunk, weighing 3,093 kilograms, from three suspects identified as Emmanuel Asoquo Johnny, 51; Okem Raphael, 33; and Chekwube Odo, 25, at New Karu.
In Kano State, 29-year-old Nura Yahaya was arrested at Geza, Kumbotso, on Friday, August 8, with 639 blocks of skunk weighing 359 kilograms. Two days earlier, on Wednesday, August 6, another suspect, 27-year-old Umar Adamu Umar, was detained on the Zaria-Kano road with 9 kilograms of Colorado, a potent synthetic cannabis strain.In Gombe State, a raid on an unfinished building in Tudun Wadan Pantami on Friday, August 8, led to the seizure of 550,266 opioid pills and the arrest of Usama Isah.
“The following day, Saturday 9th August, another suspect, Ibrahim Adamu, 23, was arrested by NDLEA officers along Potiskum road, Bajoga with 50,000 capsules of tramadol,” Babafemi added.
In Edo State, operatives intercepted a Toyota Hiace bus traveling from Onitsha to Isanlu, Kogi State, at Ewu junction on Wednesday, August 6. Inside, they discovered 23,940 tramadol capsules, 1,100 tablets, and 400 ampoules of pentazocine. The driver, identified as Taiye Jethro, was taken into custody.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd) commended the officers involved in the operations and encouraged personnel across the country to sustain an even-handed approach in their anti-drug enforcement efforts.
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