Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Prophet Michael Raji, the resident minister of Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim, Agodo-Egbe, Ikotun branch, Lagos, for allegedly attempting to export narcotics with a street value of N609 million to South Africa.
The 60-year-old suspect was arrested following the interception of the drugs at the cargo section of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, during pre-shipment examination.
Raji told the NDLEA officers that he received the drugs from a friend and had kept them in his church since October 2014.
The seized drugs, which weighed 174 kilogrammes, were reportedly concealed inside large bags of foodstuff.
According to the NDLEA Commander at Lagos Airport, Hamza Umar, the drugs contains 91kg of Methamphetamine and 83kg of Ephedrine.
The agency revealed that preliminary investigation indicated that Prophet Raji was a top member of a drug syndicate operating in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Three international passports were found on the suspect bearing his photographs but different names.
“One of the passports bears the name Michael Raji, while the other two bear the name Kadigun Fatah Ola,” said Umar.
“It was equally discovered that the church premises also serves as a warehouse for narcotics. A Mercedes Benz SUV was also impounded during the operation.
“The drugs were brought to the airport for export to South Africa. Investigation eventually traced the movement of the drugs to his church premises where he was arrested.”