The Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) and the Accra High Court are on a
collision course over bail terms granted to a Nigerian drug baron
described by the security agencies as a kingpin in the narcotic drug
business in West Africa.
The baron, Chief Sunny Ekechukwu Benjy Eke, who had been on remand at
the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons since 2013 for attempting to smuggle
281,604 grammes of liquid cocaine with a street value of more than
$12.5 million into the country, was granted bail by the Accra High Court
last Thursday.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice J. K. Dorgu, granted Chief Eke
and his accomplice, James Elike Chukwu, bail in the sum of GH¢200,000,
with three sureties each.
The bail terms were that all the sureties should be Ghanaians who are
gainfully employed and whose places of abode should be known to the
police.
International drug agencies
The bail terms have angered top officials of NACOB, as its Executive
Secretary, Mr Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, has described the terms as very
unfortunate because Chief Eke is known to have jumped bail in Brazil and
all the international drug agencies were hard on his tail but could not
arrest him until he was arrested in Ghana.
Reacting to the court’s decision in Accra last Friday, Mr Sarpong
said NACOB’s challenge was that the judge, in using his discretion as
required by law, should have considered the past record of the suspect,
which is public knowledge.
He said the fight against trans-national organised crime was not for
the security agencies alone but the whole justice delivery system in the
country.
He warned that if the suspect escaped, nobody should blame NACOB
because the board would use meagre state resources or property to
monitor the suspect as “he walks free on the streets of Accra, a
situation which he could take advantage of to escape again”.
Organised crime
He said the plea of NACOB was that while the Judiciary upheld the
1992 Constitution and the rule of law, there was the need to understand
that the characters involved in trans-national organised crime, such as
suspect Chief Eke, could undermine democracy, promote impunity of the
private sector against the public sector, engender corruption both in
the public and the private sectors, as well as give cause for the rise
of fake and wrong role models.
“For NACOB, the condition under which the accused was granted bail
was not the best, judging from his past record of jumping bail. Besides,
we are aware that the wheel of justice is a slow processs, but no
matter how slow it is, justice is more likely to prevail than
injustice,” he said.
He expressed concern over the erroneous scientific concept that the
state was more powerful than the private sector, saying that
trans-national organised crime could generate money on the black market
which the state did not have.
He said drug business and money could be linked to terrorism, cyber
crime, money laundering, human, arms and wild life trafficking, among
other crimes.
Background
On February 13, 2013, the Daily Graphic carried a story about the
seizure of the largest quantity of cocaine in recent years at the Tema
Harbour, estimated to be 200 kilogrammes, with a street value of $12
million.
The drug was concealed in a 40-footer container filled with 1,946
boxes of shampoo imported from Bolivia in South America to Ghana.
The owner, Chief Eke, a 53-year-old Nigerian businessman, was
arrested, together with another accomplice, James Elike Chukwu, 47, a
second-hand clothes dealer in Accra.
Chief Eke was described by international law enforcement agencies as a
notorious drug baron who had been involved in several drug seizures in
Brazil and Bolivia.
The success of the operation was the result of co-operation among the
security agencies in the country and their international partners.
In December 2012, NACOB, through its foreign counterparts, received
intelligence that cargo said to contain a quantity of cosmetics was
heading to the Tema Harbour from Bolivia and was suspected to contain
some narcotic substances.
Surveillance mounted
On January 29, 2013, the said cargo, which was shipped in a 40-footer
container marked MRK 257478-45 GI belonging to MAESRK Shipping Lines
and consigned to De Consumables Lines Limited, docked at the Tema
Harbour and officials of NACOB, who were on standby, immediately mounted
surveillance on it.
After almost two weeks, a clearing agent arrived with the necessary
documents to clear the goods and he was arrested to assist in
investigations and the container was later traced to Elike Chukwu, who
was arrested at his residence at Aplaku Junction, near Weija.
Upon interrogation, Elike Chukwu told NACOB officials that the real owner of the goods was Chief Eke.
It took NACOB over one week of controlled operation to lure Chief Eke
back into the country for his arrest at the Accra Shopping Mall, where
he had scheduled a meeting with Chukwu and the clearing agent.
He had in his possession four Nigerian passports with different names at the time of his arrest.
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