61-year-old drug kingpin and Lagos socialite, Alhaja Aishat Feyisara Ajoke Elediye, popularly known as ‘Iya Ruka’ has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Announcing the arrest in a statement on Sunday, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that Alhaja Ajoke, whose identity had remained concealed for years, has long been on the NDLEA’s wanted list for allegedly leading a notorious drug cartel operating in the Mushin area of Lagos.
Babafemi said she was arrested in her mansion at Okota, Lagos on New Year’s Day.
The NDLEA spokesman revealed that her capture followed the interception of a truckload of illicit drugs transported by one of her staff.
He noted that NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, intercepted a white Isuzu truck on January 1, 2025.
The vehicle, driven by 41-year-old Abideen Adio, was found carrying 44 jumbo sacks containing 1,540 kilograms of imported cannabis.
The arrest was finalized when operatives stormed Alhaja Ajoke’s residence at 33 Adebayo Oyewole Street, off Ago Palace Way, Okota, leading to her apprehension.
The statement reads, “On the surface, Alhaja Ajoke is a businesswoman who imports fabrics and shoes from China but beneath is a massive illicit drug trade. She is also recognized as the Iyalaje of Blessing Sisters, an influential club of society women in Lagos.”
Babafemi further said, “An ex-convict, Sodade Sunday Eniola, who was arrested by operatives of the Tincan Command of NDLEA in June 2024, for drug trafficking, prosecuted and sentenced to four years in prison has been arrested again by officers of the MMIA Strategic Command of the Agency for passport racketeering.
”When he was convicted by a Federal High Court in Lagos on 14th June 2024, the trial judge gave him an option of paying N750,000 fine, which he paid and was let go.
“However, in series of operations in December 2024, NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Lagos airport intercepted no fewer than 52 passports of different countries from shipments going to Canada, Russia, and other countries concealed in shoe soles and food items. Further investigations led to the arrest of four members of three syndicates involved in the racket.
“The arrested suspects include: Sodade Sunday Eniola; Ayinde Saheed Awwal; Salaudeen Afeez Ayode; and Sheriff Adebayo Bamigbade. Both the exhibits and the suspects were on Monday 30th December, 2024 handed over to the Zonal Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lagos for further investigation and possible prosecution.
“Not less than 316, 800 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers by NDLEA officers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State during a joint examination of the shipments with men of Nigeria Customs and other security agencies on Tuesday, 31st December 2024. The seizure followed credible intelligence processed by the Port Harcourt Port Command of the Agency.”
