By Faith Ugochi, a well-known Port Harcourt-based prophetess and the founder of Christ Power Adoration Ministries, as well as the famous couple Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Simba Allen have been declared wanted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for allegedly recruiting teenage girls for drug trafficking.
They act as the arrowheads of a global syndicate that operates out of Los Angeles, USA, according to the anti-drug agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who made this revelation in a statement on Sunday.
Babafemi claims that on November 16, 2022, NDLEA agents at the NAHCO import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos, seized a shipment of 32.70 kilograms of Loud, a potent variety of cannabis hidden in boxes of discarded clothing, blowing the lid off the cartel.
According to the NDLEA spokesman, Ukoh Ifeanyi Oguguo, a freight agent, was promptly detained while more inquiries resulted in the detention of four additional suspects: Chikodi Favour, Obiyom Shalom Chiamaka, Nnochiri Chidinma Promise, and Edward Omatseye (aka Montana).
The 15-year-old Favour was the first salesgirl to be detained at a gas station in the Ajah neighborhood of Lagos, according to the statement.
She then took the agents to a duplex residence in the Ikate neighborhood of Lekki, which was later found to be a rental apartment used by the criminal organization specifically for four young girls who are used by the syndicate for marketing and distribution of illegal substances.
“Another girl, Shalom, a recent graduate of Rivers State University of Science and Technology’s Agricultural Science program, was picked from the house alongside Favour.
“It was discovered during their initial questioning that the syndicate rented another facility inside Richmond Estate, Lekki that was used as a drug storage. By the time agents found the home, it had already been broken into by other syndicate members who had taken bags of illegal goods with them.
“However, certain illicit drug paraphernalia from the warehouse was found, including sealing equipment, bloating machines, and packaging bags.
“A follow-up operation resulted in the capture of Edward Omatseye at his home in the Lekki neighborhood. In an interview, Edward admitted to working for Igho and his wife Danielle, who are known as the main leaders of the criminal organization.
“Investigation was able to establish that Prophetess Faith Ugochi of Christ Power Adoration Ministries recruited Favour and Shalom as sales girls in the illegal drug trade by using her church platform to recruit teenage girls brought to her for assistance, on behalf of the celebrity couple: Igho Ubiribo (aka Tiny) and Danielle Simba Allen (aka Dani), who own the business, while Edward Omatseye (aka Montana) coordinates the illegal drug trade activities for them.
“Although Nnochiri Chidinma Promise, Edward Omatseye (aka Montana), and Ben Cargo Ltd., a freight company connected to two previous drug busts and now a defendant in the current case, have already been charged in court and are currently on trial there, attempts to subpoena Prophetess Faith Ugochi, Igho Ubiribo, and Danielle Simba Allen for questioning have been unsuccessful.
“On November 28, 2022, a letter of invitation was delivered to Prophetess Faith Ugochi of Christ Adoration Ministries, No. 27 Anozie Street, Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Her mother, with whom she co-presides over the Church, received and acknowledged the letter. After a considerable interval, a reminder was sent in response to the letter on January 9, 2023.
Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Simba Allen also received letters of invitation in the same way.
When the couple failed to react to the initial invitation, a reminder was also sent. Igho and Danielle initially sent a legal representative to request a different time to accept the invitation, but they have since cut off communication. Prophetess Ugochi abandoned her home and went into hiding while continuing her prophetic ministry on Facebook.
Interestingly, they hastily transferred all funds linked to their business, Lasgidi Backwood Ltd, where all revenues from the sale of illegal substances were deposited into the personal account of a man named Victor Imagoro.
Since then, the agency has frozen the Eighty Million Naira (N80,000,000) linked to the account and acquired a court order to take all of the suspects’ assets, including a petrol station in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
The celebrity pair Ubiribo Igho and Danielle Allen, who serve as the arrowheads of the illegal trade, as well as Prophetess Faith Ugochi, who hires adolescent girls as sales agents for the couple, have been declared wanted by the Federal High Court of Lagos, according to the NDLEA.
While a suspect named Abraham Alaigwu was detained on March 30 in the Slaughter, Trans/Amadi neighborhood of Port Harcourt, Rivers state, with 91.7 kg of cannabis, Ayodele Osuya, 35, was found with 228 kg of the same substance in a Toyota Camry near the Quarter Guard neighborhood of Akure, Ondo state.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, praised the officers and men of MMIA for their painstaking investigation of Prophetess Faith Ugochi, the celebrity couple Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Simba Allen, as well as other members of their cartel, and pledged that no effort will be spared to ensure the fleeing suspects are brought to account for their actions.
