The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, for allegedly masterminding multiple shipments of illicit drugs from Ghana into Nigeria.
Olasele, who had been on the run for months, was apprehended on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at his church in Okun Ajah, Lekki, Lagos.
NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said operatives waited until the end of the Sunday service before arresting him as he stepped out of the premises.
According to Babafemi, the pastor fled to Ghana in June to evade arrest after operatives linked him to two major cannabis seizures — 200kg recovered at Okun Ajah Beach on June 4, and 700kg found in his delivery van on July 6. He allegedly confessed to transporting the consignments via waterways from Ghana.
In a separate operation on Thursday, August 7, NDLEA officers raided an apartment at Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, arresting Benjamin Ukoh and recovering 32 pouches of Canadian Loud, weighing 15.63kg.
Other arrests across the country included the recovery of 3,093kg of skunk in Nasarawa State from three suspects; the seizure of 359kg of skunk from a suspect in Kano; and the arrest of another man with 9kg of Colorado along the Zaria-Kano road.
In Gombe State, operatives seized over 550,000 opioid pills from an uncompleted building and intercepted 50,000 capsules of tramadol from another suspect.
In Edo State, a Toyota Hiace bus travelling from Onitsha to Isanlu, Kogi, was stopped at Ewu Junction with 23,940 tramadol capsules, 1,100 tablets, and 400 pentazocine ampoules. The driver, Taiye Jethro, was taken into custody.
NDLEA Chairman Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.) commended the officers involved and urged them to maintain a balanced approach in drug control operations.
