A 75-year-old grandfather, Uchelue Ikechukwu, and five other suspects have been arrested with illicit substances in raids by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in parts of Anambra State.
This was confirmed in a statement by the Agency’s Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, August 31.
This was just as 30-year-old Alfa Andrew was taken into custody following the destruction of 178, 750 kilogrammes of skunk on his 71.5 hectares of cannabis farm in Mayodoga forest, Sardauna local council area of Taraba State.
While Uchelue was nabbed at Umudioka, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra with 26.7kg skunk on Thursday, August 28, Eneh Makuo Emmanuel Chiemeli, Uwakwe Matthew, Chukwujekwu Ehirim, Ifeanyichukwu Olisa and Odoh Chukwuma were arrested with various quantities of opioids and skunk at Nkwelle and Amichi areas of the state.
In his case, Andrew was arrested with a Dane gun when NDLEA operatives, supported by personnel of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Forest Security Service, Mambila Youth Vanguard and Vigilante, stormed his 71.5 hectares of cannabis farm located at Mayodoga forest, Mayosabere ward in Sardauna LGA, Taraba State, where they destroyed 178,750 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
No fewer than 104,900 capsules of Tramadol concealed in the driver compartment of a fuel tanker, suspected to be an illicit consignment going to insurgents in parts of Borno State, were intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate in Kaduna on Friday, August 29, while a suspect Hassan Buba was immediately taken into custody.
Another suspect, Kabir Sulaiman, aged 45, was nabbed with 34.150kg skunk by NDLEA officers at Gwargwaje-Zaria check point on Saturday, August 30.
Following intelligence and surveillance, NDLEA operatives, in an interdiction operation on Saturday, August 30, arrested a major supplier of illicit opioids in Borno State, 33-year-old Uchenna Umeh, shortly after he received his supplies from Onitsha, Anambra State.
Recovered from his apartment at Chescon, Pompomary area of Maiduguri were 30,640 pills of Tramadol 225mg; 7,940 tablets of Rohypnol and a cash of N7,999.2 million only in N200 new notes.
In Nasarawa State, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, August 28, arrested Abubakar Dauda, aged 36, with 79,040 pills of Tramadol and Diazepam at Abacha Park, Mararaba, Karu.
This followed the arrest of 47-year-old Babangida Tungura in Lafia, who was found with 30,410 pills of Tramadol and Rohypnol, as well as 38 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup concealed in a deep freezer from Asaba, Delta State on Tuesday, August 26.
A 23-year-old suspect, Mohammed Ali, was on Wednesday, August 27, arrested in a follow-up operation at Ngorore, Adamawa State after the interception of his way-billed consignment of 15,000 capsules of Tramadol concealed in sacks of animal feed at the Gombe mega park.
In Kano, Ashiru Garba, aged 20, and Aminu Abdu, 22 years old, were arrested on Tuesday, August 26, along Kano-Hadeja road.
Found in their possession were 1.5kg skunk and 25,000 pills of exol-5, while two other suspects- Ali Muhammad, 37, and Muhammad Maishanu, 42 – were nabbed by NDLEA officers on Thursday, August 28 along Zaria-Kano road, Gadan Tamburawa, with 8,080 bottles of a new psychoactive substance and 25.7kg skunk in their possession.
No fewer than 250,000 tablets of exol-5 were seized from a suspect, Alhasaan Musa, aged 25, in Zango area, Ungogo LGA, Kano by NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 30.
A suspect, Hamisu Abdullahi, was on Monday, August 25, arrested in a follow-up operation in Yola, Adamawa State, after NDLEA operatives on patrol along Mararaba Lamurde intercepted a Golf saloon car marked GME 253 HP driven by Sani Suleiman.
Coming from Gombe State, the car was loaded with sacks of pepper which were used to conceal 79 blocks of skunk weighing 58kg belonging to Hamisu.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Ewu-Auchi road, Etsako West LGA intercepted 64,250 pills of opioids, mainly Tramadol, in a commercial bus coming from Onitsha, and going to Okene, Kogi State. A suspect, Mohammed Halidu, aged 36, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Two suspects – Elves Odogwu, 45, and David Jeremiah, 35 – were arrested on Wednesday, August 27, when NDLEA operatives raided Queen Elizabeth, Aponmun Reserved Camp, Ondo Town, Ondo State, where 117.5kg processed cannabis and seeds were recovered from them.
A total of 164 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered from the base of a suspect Michael Ayodele in Mushin area of Lagos State where he was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 30.
In what appears to be the single largest seizure of Loud and Colorado, two strong strains of cannabis, in Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives, acting on credible intelligence on Friday, August 29, raided Nova Street, behind New Creation School, Ado-Ekiti where 5.3 kilogrammes of Loud and Colorado as well as 2.5 grammes of Methamphetamine were seized from a 42-year-old drug kingpin, Ajayi Ayodeji Idowu (a.k.a Atiku).
Meanwhile, across the country, NDLEA Commands continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation lectures and advocacy visits to worship centres, schools, workplaces, palaces of traditional rulers and communities all through the past week.
Instances include WADA sensitization lecture to secondary school students in Onitsha during their annual holiday lessons at Ezechima Primary School, Onitsha, Anambra State; youths of Anglican Church Diocese, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; WADA advocacy visits to HRM De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi, the Akran of Badagry, Lagos State; the MD/CEO of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho and his management team in Lagos; the First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun; and the Olofin of Isheri, HRM Oba Suleiman Adekunle Bamgbade Ayodele 111, Lagos, among others.
Commending the officers and men of Anambra, Taraba, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo, and Edo, Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) also applauded their compatriots in all the commands across the country for intensifying the WADA sensitisation lectures and advocacy messages to every part of their areas of responsibility.
