NDLEA arrests wanted Lagos pastor for cross-border drug trafficking
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Adefolusho Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, over his al...
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Adefolusho Olasele, also known as Abbas Ajakaiye, over 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.
A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said operatives waited until the end of the Sunday service before arresting him as he stepped out of the premises.
According to him, the pastor fled to Ghana in June to evade arrest after operatives linked him to two cannabis seizures — 200kg recovered at Okun Ajah Beach on June 4 and 700kg found in his delivery van on July 6.“After months of fleeing abroad to evade arrest, the founder and General Overseer of The Turn of Mercy Church, Prophet Adefolusho Aanu Olasele (alias Abbas Ajakaiye) has been arrested for masterminding multiple shipments of illicit drugs into Nigeria.
“Prophet Adefolusho was arrested at his church located in Okun Ajah, Ogombo road, Lekki area of Lagos on Sunday, 3rd August 2025 by NDLEA officers who waited for him since morning to conclude the Sunday worship service in the evening before moving in on him the moment he stepped out of the church premises.
“The arrest came after he had evaded arrest twice and fled to Ghana to hide since June, when operatives started trailing him following the seizure of two shipments of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis linked to him. The first seizure of 200kg of the psychoactive substance was made at Okun Ajah beach on 4th June 2025, while another consignment of 7In Edo State, a Toyota Hiace bus travelling from Onitsha to Isanlu, Kogi, was intercepted at Ewu junction on Wednesday, August 6, with 23,940 tramadol capsules, 1,100 tablets, and 400 pentazocine ampoules. The driver, Taiye Jethro, was arrested.
Commending the officers involved, NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), urged personnel nationwide to maintain a balanced approach to drug control operations.00kg of the same substance was recovered from his delivery van on 6th July 2025,” the statement read.
