By Amofokhai Williams
After months on the run, the long arm of the law has caught up with Prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, the 48-year-old founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church for allegedly masterminding multi-tonne shipments of illicit drugs from Ghana into Nigeria.
Olasele, who fled to Ghana in June after twice evading arrest, was dramatically apprehended on Sunday, 3 August 2025, moments after concluding a worship service at his Okun Ajah, Lekki church.
NDLEA operatives, who had waited outside the premises all day, pounced the moment he stepped out, bringing an end to a months-long game of cat and mouse.
According to Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s spokesman, investigators had linked the self-styled prophet to two major seizures of Ghana Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, including 200kg recovered at Okun Ajah beach on 4 June and another 700kg found in his delivery van on 6 July.
In his statement, Olasele allegedly admitted ferrying the illicit consignments through the waterways from Ghana, and fleeing to the West African country to hide after narrowly escaping arrest twice.
The dramatic arrest comes amid a sweeping NDLEA crackdown across five states, during which operatives recovered 3,476 kilograms of cannabis variants, including Colorado, Loud, and Skunk, as well as 645,906 pills of opioids.
In Lagos, operatives stormed a luxury apartment in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, arresting a suspect, Benjamin Udo Ukoh, and seizing 15.63 kilograms of Canadian Loud.
In Nasarawa State, a massive 3,093 kilograms of skunk was recovered from three suspects in New Karu. In Kano State, between 6 and 8 August, operatives intercepted 359 kilograms of skunk, nine kilograms of Colorado, and 20,000 tramadol pills alongside diazepam injections from multiple suspects.
Gombe State witnessed the recovery of over 550,000 tramadol pills and 50,000 capsules from two suspects in separate raids, while in Edo State, NDLEA officers intercepted a bus from Onitsha bound for Kogi at Ewu Junction, uncovering 23,940 tramadol capsules, 1,100 tablets, and 400 ampoules of pentazocine injection.
Commending the officers and men of the Lagos, Nasarawa, Gombe, Kano, and Edo Commands for their “dexterity and dedication,” NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), urged all formations across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control as part of its ongoing War Against Drug Abuse (WADA).
