A Nigerian pastor who preached in Tanzania under
auspices of his Lord Chosen Church has been handed
a 30-year jail sentence after being convicted of
smuggling cocaine worth Sh3.1 billion.
Mr Chukwudi Okechukwu was jailed along with
compatriot Paul Ikechukwu, South African Stan
Hycent and Pakistani Shoaib Mohammad Ayazi over
the same offence. High Court Judge Amir Mruma has
also ordered the accused to pay Sh9 billion in fines.
Anti-narcotics police believe that the preacher is one
of the top members of a drug syndicate operating in
Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa.
He and his three accomplices were hiding in a
mansion in Dar es Salaam’s Kuduchi Mtongani
suburbs when the police surrounded the house and
arrested them.
Anti-narcotics police had received information about
foreigners who were planning to smuggle into the
country a huge quantity of cocaine and store it in a
house in Kunduchi Mtongani.
A surveillance team was deployed to keep an eye on
the mansion that the the preacher and his
accomplices had rented.
Led by head of Anti-Drugs Unit (ADU) Godfrey
Nzowa, the police knocked on the front gate in their
bid to arrest the suspected drug dealers.
Their arrest was dramatic. Soon after the police
knocked on the gate and introduced themselves, the
four suspects started running around the house in
apparent fear and panic.
There was a cat-and-mouse chase drama inside the
compound as the police tried to get hold of one of
the suspects as he was attempting to jump over the
fence. Three suspects were arrested inside the
house.
Pastor Okechukwu was the only suspect who managed
to jump over the wall but was arrested after a
dramatic chase by the police.
Upon searching the house, anti-drugs police seized
81 packets of drugs which were later confirmed by
the chief government chemist to be cocaine
hydrochloride.
Pastor Okechukwu first came to Tanzania in January
2011, two months before his arrest, on an
evangelical mission under the umbrella of his Lord
Chosen Church of Nigeria.
However, intelligence report show he had came to
Tanzania some years back and had made a name for
himself as a pastor at his Kinondoni Biafra church and
won many followers.
Yesterday, Mr Nzowa described their jailing as
“another great achievement” in Tanzania’s efforts to
fight drug trafficking.
“Unlike a gun or pistol which kills people instantly,
drugs are killing the young generation slowly. If we
are not aggressive in fighting the illicit trade we may
find ourselves losing the young generation,” he said,
adding that drug business was a threat to national
security especially when foreigners are left to
operate in the country.
The jailing of the Nigerian pastor and his accomplices
brought to three the number of high profile drug
cases that have ben heard and determined by the
High Court in the space of three months. Early in
September, the same court sentenced to 20 years a
young Tanzanian Fred William Chonde to 20 years in
jail after it found him guilty of possessing 180kg
worth Sh 5.2 billion and ordered him to pay a Sh 15
billion fine.
Again, last month the court sentenced businessman
Kadiria Saidi Kimaro who attempted to smuggle 91
heroin capsules that he had swallowed, through Julius
Nyerere International Airport (JNIA), to 20 years in
jail. He was also ordered to pay Sh122 million in fine.
The speed with which the Judiciary hears and
determined the drug cases has renewed hopes by
anti-drugs campaigners who had accused courts of
mishandling drug cases. There has been a concern
that the way court handled drug trafficking cases
might make it easy for the covicts to later secure
freedom or bail in what could be viewed as disregard
of the law.
Corruption and influence peddling by highly placed
individuals have been cited as one factor that
frustrates the war against traffickers.
However, the judiciary has repeatedly defended
itself over the accusations, saying shoddy police
investigations and poor prosecution was highly to
blame for the situation.
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