A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced former international footballer Segun Hunkarin and fugitive drug trafficker Ntoruka Chinedu to a combined 24 years in prison for importing cocaine into Nigeria, according to Punch News.
Justice Musa Kakaki found both men guilty of offences linked to the illegal importation of cocaine.
Chinedu received a total of 22 years in prison, while Hunkarin was sentenced to two years for conspiring to receive the illicit consignment.
According to the NDLEA, Chinedu was first arraigned in 2015 over the importation of 6.25 kilograms of cocaine but fled after being granted bail.
He remained on the run for nearly a decade before his re-arrest on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while allegedly attempting to smuggle an additional 800 grams of cocaine into Nigeria from Ethiopia.
Investigators said Chinedu travelled from Turkey through Ethiopia, where he allegedly collected the drug-filled luggage before arriving in Nigeria.
Hunkarin was arrested in the airport car park while waiting to receive the shipment.
The former footballer also admitted to previously trafficking drugs from Brazil to Ethiopia during his playing career, the agency said.
The court ruled that Chinedu would serve 20 years for the earlier drug importation case and an additional two years for conspiracy in the latest offence. Hunkarin received a two-year jail term for his role in the conspiracy.
Reacting to the verdict, NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) described the conviction as proof of the agency’s determination to pursue drug traffickers, stressing that no fugitive would escape justice regardless of how long they remained at large.
Source: Punch News
