NDLEA: Aishat Ajoke, Captures for contraband drug delivery

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has publicized the capture of 61-year-old Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye, a fugitive drug Figure and Lagos socialite.

On Wednesday, January 1, 2025, Ajoke was captured at her Okota mansion in Lagos after NDLEA operatives seized a truck filled with contraband drugs being delivered by her staff that day.

Under the alias ‘Iya Ruka’ in the drug world and known as Alhaja Ajoke in elite circles, the NDLEA unveiled that her true identity had been masked for years. She had been a target of the agency for heading a drug cartel functioning from the Mushin area of Lagos.

Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, remarked, “Her secret was exposed on January 1, 2025, when NDLEA operatives, following a tip-off, intercepted a white Izuzu truck driven by one of her staff members, 41-year-old Abideen Adio. The truck contained 44 oversized sacks with 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis.”

After intercepting the truck, the operatives descended on her property at 33 Adebayo Oyewole Street, off Ago Palace Way, Okota, and took her into custody.

Even though she appeared to be a legitimate businesswoman importing fabrics and shoes from China, Ajoke had been deeply involved in a major underground drug trade for years. She is also recognized as the Iyalaje of Blessing Sisters, an influential women’s club in Lagos.

On Friday, December 27, 2024, in a separate operation, NDLEA operatives Captured US-trained filmmaker Emeka Emmanuel Mbadiwe in his Lekki hotel room. Mbadiwe, who has worked in both Hollywood and Nollywood, was taken into custody after his associate, Uzoekwe Ugochukwu James, was arrested earlier that same day at a warehouse in Ajao Estate, Ikeja. James had been dispatched by Mbadiwe to collect 33 parcels of Loud, a potent cannabis strain weighing 17.30 kilograms. The shipment had arrived from the United States on December 24, 2024, hidden in large wooden boxes aboard a Delta Airlines flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.