General Overseer Arrested With Drugs Granted N2 Million Bail

A PASTOR who was arrested with drugs, Emmanuel Ugochukwu Ekwem, has been granted bail by a Lagos High Court.

Ekwem is the Founder and General Overseer of Christ Living Hope Church.

Recall that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested Ekwem at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) while on his way to a crusade in Nairobi, Kenya, on March 7.

He was about to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Nairobi via Addis Ababa when 54 sticks of Cannabis Sativa were found wrapped around his body.

The NDLEA arraigned him on a one-count of unlawful export of the banned substance on March 29.

The charge filed against the General Overseer reads, “That you Ekwem Emmanuel Ugochukwu, male, adult, on or about the 7th day of March 2022, during the outward clearance of passengers of Ethiopia Airlines flight to Kenya at Screening 1, Departure Hall of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja-Lagos, without lawful authority exported 40 grammes of Cannabis Sativa, a narcotic drug similar to Cocaine, Heroin, and LSD.”

Ekwem pleaded not guilty.

The presiding judge, Justice Daniel Osiagor, subsequently granted him bail in the sum of N2 million with one surety in like sum.

The judge ruled that the surety must be a director in a federal or Lagos State Government establishment.

Ekwem was remanded in prison until the perfection of his bail conditions.

The trial was adjourned to June 26.