In a life-threatening ordeal, 59-year-old businessman Chijioke Nnanna Igbokwe underwent exploratory laparotomy surgery to remove 57 out of 81 pellets of cocaine that were lodged in his stomach seven days after he ingested the illicit substance in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Igbokwe was arrested by officials from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) on January 26, 2025, during the clearance of passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
A body scan revealed the presence of drugs in his system, and he was promptly taken into NDLEA custody for observation.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the investigation revealed that Igbokwe, who claims to be in the clothing business in Oshodi, Lagos, flew from Lagos to Addis Ababa on January 22.
The following day, he swallowed 81 pellets of cocaine before boarding a flight to Beirut, Lebanon, to deliver the drugs for a $3,000 fee. However, upon arriving in Beirut, he was denied entry due to insufficient funds and was deported to Addis Ababa, where he attempted to excrete the drugs but was unsuccessful.
He then traveled back to Lagos on January 25 with the drugs still inside him, where he was arrested the next day.
After five days of observation, Igbokwe had only managed to expel 24 pellets with medical intervention at the NDLEA medical facility and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
Due to complications from other underlying health conditions, he was admitted to the tertiary hospital, where his family members authorized the necessary consent for him to undergo surgery on January 30.
A total of 81 pellets, weighing 1.943 kilograms, were recovered from Igbokwe’s stomach.
