A former international footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, and convicted drug trafficker Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu have been sentenced to a combined 24 years’ imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Lagos for separate cocaine trafficking offences. Justice Musa Kakaki handed down the sentences after finding both men guilty of offences involving the unlawful importation of cocaine into Nigeria.
Chinedu received a 22-year prison sentence after being convicted of importing 6.25 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria in 2015 and later conspiring to import an additional 800 grams of cocaine. The court heard that he was initially granted bail after his 2015 arraignment but absconded, remaining a fugitive for nearly a decade before he was re-arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in June 2025.
Investigations revealed that Chinedu had allegedly travelled from Turkey through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected a suitcase containing cocaine before arriving in Lagos. NDLEA operatives subsequently arrested Hunkarin in the airport car park while he was allegedly waiting to receive the illicit consignment. The former footballer reportedly admitted during interrogation that he had previously trafficked drugs from Brazil to Ethiopia while pursuing his football career in South America.
Justice Kakaki sentenced Hunkarin to two years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to import the 800 grams of cocaine, rejecting appeals by defence lawyers for non-custodial sentences or fines. The court held that the evidence presented by the prosecution proved the offences beyond reasonable doubt and imposed prison terms without the option of fines.
Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) praised the court for the convictions and commended the agency’s officers for successfully tracking down Chinedu after almost 10 years on the run. He described the verdict as a strong message that drug traffickers would continue to face the full weight of the law regardless of how long they evade justice.
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