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Chika Egwu Udensi - Arik airline staff caught with cocaine (Image source: The Punch)
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Operatives of the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency on Tuesday night stormed the headquarters of Arik Air in
Ikeja Lagos following the arrest in London of a crew member of the airline for
allegedly being in possession of cocaine. The Arik crew member, identified by the anti-narcotics agency
as Chika Egwu Udensi, was arrested on Monday night by operatives of the United
Kingdom Border Force with 20 kilogrammes of cocaine in London. The NDLEA agents were said to have
searched Udensi’s latest Range Rover parked on the airline’s premises. Arik
spokesman, Mitchel Ofoyeju, confirmed the visit by the NDLEA’s operatives.
Udensi
was arrested at the London Heathrow Airport shortly after an Arik Air flight
W3101 that departed from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos,
touched down in the UK.
The Punch
report continues:
Udensi’s
arrest came barely two years after two crew members of the Arik Air were
similarly nabbed by the UK Border Force in London.
Officials
of the NDLEA on Tuesday put the street value of the drug found with the suspect
at £350,000 (N105m).
The Arik
Air on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of its cabin crew member by the UK Border
Force.
The
airline, in a statement which read like the one issued after the 2013 incident,
said it had commenced investigation into how the banned substance got into the
suspect’s possession.
The
statement by Ofoyeju, read, “A member of Arik Air cabin crew was on Monday
night arrested at the Heathrow Airport, London, by the UK Border Force in
connection with alleged possession of item suspected to be a banned substance.
“The
airline is presently carrying out its private investigation to determine how
the cabin crew member came about the suspected banned substance.
“Arik
Air will also be cooperating fully with the UK authorities and other
appropriate agencies in their investigations.”
The
statement added, “The airline again reaffirms its commitment to the fight
against drug and illicit substances trafficking and will not tolerate the use
of any of its aircraft or crew for the courier of banned items and substances.
“Arik
Air carries out very stringent checks on all members of staff and its
travelling guests ahead of all flights. The airline will continue to focus its
attention on measures to prevent the possibility of any future similar
incidents.
“Arik
Air is a responsible Nigerian company, always seeking to maintain and uphold
the integrity and proud reputation of the nation.”
Our
correspondent learnt that the Managing Director of the airline, Mr. Chris
Ndulue; and the Director of Flight Operation, Captain Ado Sanusi, were onboard
the flight.
A top
official of the airline, who spoke to The Punch in confidence, said that Ndulue
and Sanusi travelled on the flight for a “special meeting” in the UK.
Details
of the said meeting were not known as of press time.
When
asked whether Ndulue and Sanusi were onboard the flight and their mission in
the UK, the airline’s spokesperson, Ofoyeju, simply answered, “I don’t know; I
don’t know.”
The
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Mr. Ahmadu Giade, on Tuesday ordered
investigation into the operations of Arik Air following the development.
The
Nigerian anti-narcotics agency said in a statement that it had notified the
National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom of the arrest.
The
statement quoted Giade as saying, “The agency will carry out full scale
investigation into this case to ascertain those behind the criminal act. We
shall work closely with our international collaborators on the matter. Arik
Airline will be sanctioned if found wanting.
“The
agency shall invoke section 25 of the NDLEA Act against the airline, which
states that it shall be the duty of every commercial carrier to take reasonable
precaution to ensure that its means of transport are not used in the commission
of offences under this Act.
“Every
commercial carrier is expected to comply with appropriate security measures at
points of entry and exit in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other customs
control areas, to prevent unauthorized cargo in its means of transportation.
“The law
refers to the precautionary measures to include training of personnel,
promotion of integrity of their personnel, submission of cargo manifests in
advance, use of tamper-resistant, individually verifiable seals on containers
and reporting to the agency at the earliest opportunity all suspicious
circumstances relating to drug trafficking.
“Nigeria
has a cordial working relationship with the United Kingdom in drug control.
This has resulted to a drastic reduction in the number of arrests made in the
United Kingdom from flights originating from Nigeria over the years.”
In
December 2011, another Arik Air cabin crew, Ms. Chinwendu Uwakaonyenma
Ogbonnaya, was similarly arrested in London for drug trafficking.
She was
subsequently jailed for five years in London.
Also in
2013, precisely on May 21, two female crew members of the airline
were arrested at the same Heathrow Airport in London for suspected drug
trafficking.
The two
had been arrested after a package of drugs was discovered by Border Force
officers on a bus which had been used to transport air crew.
The street value of their
haul as of the time had been put at around £600,000.
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