A 39-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Celestine Ikechukwu Okonkwo said he was abandoned in Brazil by barons who had sponsored his trip to Brazil under the guise of white collar job.

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of drug barons, the suspect who used to sell used clothes at Idumota market said that he was promised mouth-watering job opportunities here in Nigeria but was made to suffer untold hardship before being used in smuggling cocaine.

NDLEA Commander at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja, Mr. Hamisu Lawan said, “The suspect tested positive to drug ingestion while returning from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He later excreted 70 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.326kg”.

Celestine said that he was a happy man until the drug barons approached him with a promise of better job abroad. “I was in my shop at Idumota market where I sell used clothes. I will never forget the day a young man came to my shop to buy shirt. He told me he is from Anambra and that he lives in Brazil.

“He also promised to help me with a good job opportunity over there. Honestly, I was excited and felt it was answer to my age long prayer. He collected my phone number and left. This was how it all started,” Celestine narrated.

He was said to have been called after three months by the man to say that he was back to Nigeria. In his words, “he prepared my international passport and also secured a visa for me. Then he told me to get set to travel any time. Few weeks later, he brought my ticket and I travelled to Brazil in January 2015. He gave me the name of the hotel where I will stay pending when he will get me a job. I was eventually abandoned to suffer.

“When I exhausted my money, I began to sleep in a church. I also began to work for a Nigerian woman who owns a restaurant in order not to starve to death. Nobody discussed drug trafficking with me while in Nigeria. It was after I had lived in the church for some months that my sponsor located me in Sau Paulo. I was told that there is no free lunch in Brazil and that I have suffered and experienced difficult life in Brazil. This was the point they introduced drug trafficking as the only way out.

“They said that was what people do to make money. It took me about seven hours to swallow 70 wraps of cocaine. I was inexperienced because it was my first time. They promised to pay me N400, 000 when I get to Nigeria” he stated.

Celestine who hails from Anambra State was said to have relocated to Lagos in 2010 having abandoned his education in 1999 as a form two student in junior secondary school. His wife and daughter are living with his parents in the village. He advice young people to appreciate their country pointing out that “God bless Nigeria. There is no poverty here except the person chooses to be poor” he stated.

Chairman of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said that the story of Celestine should serve as a warning to others who are seeking to travel out of the country. In his words, “there is nothing wrong in seeking greener pastures but people must be properly guided. Travelling out of the country without money to pay for your accommodation

Source: http://nationaldailyng.com/news/crime/3914-drug-barons-abandon-me-in-brazil-suspect

Not Nigerian, IGBO