By Victor Kanayo
Former Nigerian footballer, Emmanuel Okafor Junior, has been arrested inside his country’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State for alleged drug trafficking.
Nigeria’s anti-drug agency known as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), revealed this via a statement on its Twitter handle on Sunday.
The statement obtained by Heritage Times HT reads, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,NDLEA, havearrested an ex-footballer, Okafor Emmanuel Junior at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on his arrival from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa Ethiopia on board an Ethiopian airlines flight with 1.40kg crack cocaine concealed in his bags.
“The 33-year-old indigene of Arochukwu Local Government, Abia State was arrested on Monday 26′ September 2022 after anti-narcotic officers discovered he concealed the illicit substance in the handles of his bags and padded the top edges of same with the class A drug.
“During preliminary interview, Okafor disclosed that he was an ex-footballer with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH Enugu FC, where he played for four seasons before leaving for Sri Lanka in 2014.
“He further stated that he moved to Brazil from Sri Lanka after playing for two seasons but could not advance his football career in Brazil due lack of official.”
The agency also revealed how it arrested two more persons from Brazil with illicit drugs same day.
