The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Prophet Adefolusho Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, for his alleged role in multiple shipments of illicit drugs from Ghana to 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. According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, operatives waited until the end of the Sunday service before moving in on the cleric as he stepped out of the church premises.

Investigators said the pastor fled to Ghana in June to evade arrest after being linked to two cannabis seizures 200kg recovered at Okun Ajah beach on June 4 and 700kg found in his delivery van on July 6. In his statement, Babafemi said Olasele confessed to ferrying the consignments through waterways from Ghana.

The agency disclosed that the pastor had twice evaded capture before fleeing abroad, prompting a sustained manhunt that led to his arrest.

In a separate operation in Lagos on Thursday, NDLEA operatives raided an apartment in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, arresting Benjamin Ukoh and recovering 32 pouches of Canadian Loud, weighing 15.63kg.

In Nasarawa State, operatives on Saturday, August 9, intercepted 3,093 kilograms of skunk from three suspects Emmanuel Asoquo Johnny, 51; Okem Raphael, 33; and Chekwube Odo, 25 in the New Karu area. The day before, 29-year-old Nura Yahaya was arrested in Geza, Kumbotso, Kano State, with 639 blocks of skunk weighing 359kg. Another suspect, Umar Adamu Umar, 27, was apprehended on Wednesday, August 6, with 9kg of Colorado along Zaria-Kano Road.

In Gombe State, a raid on an uncompleted building in Tudun Wadan Pantami on Friday yielded 550,266 opioid pills and led to the arrest of Usama Isah. The following day, NDLEA officers along Potiskum Road, Bajoga, arrested Ibrahim Adamu, 23, with 50,000 capsules of tramadol.

In Edo State, a Toyota Hiace bus travelling from Onitsha to Isanlu, Kogi State, was intercepted at Ewu junction on Wednesday, with officers recovering 23,940 tramadol capsules, 1,100 tablets, and 400 pentazocine ampoules. The driver, identified as Taiye Jethro, was taken into custody.

Commending the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.) urged personnel nationwide to maintain a balanced approach to drug control enforcement.