Crime
NDLEA arrests drug lord while giving mule 93 cocaine wraps to swallow in Lagos hotel
NDLEA arrests drug lord while giving mule 93 cocaine wraps to swallow in Lagos hotel
. Recovers 12.4million pills of opioids, 6,921.5kg skunk; destroys 33 hectares of cannabis farms in Ondo, Edo; intercepts another Colorado shipment from Canada
By: Michael Mike
It was a rude shock to a notorious drug kingpin who specializes in sponsoring young Nigerians to traffick Class A drugs to Europe especially Italy, when operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, stormed his hotel room in Okota area of Lagos late on Friday 21st July when he was preparing a recruited courier to swallow 93 pellets of cocaine meant for distribution in Italy.
The 48-year-old drug kingpin, Charles Uwagbale, had recruited Uju Dominic, 35, from his base in Italy with a deal to come to Nigeria, ingest 100 pellets of cocaine on Friday 21st July and return to Italy on Saturday 22nd July. True to plan, upon the arrival in Nigeria, the mule was lodged in Golden Heaven Hotel located at Enoma street off Ago-Palace way, Okota, Isolo, Lagos where Uwagbale brought 93 wraps of the Class A drug for him to swallow at about 23:45pm Friday night.
They were in the process when NDLEA operatives who have been on their trail following credible intelligence stormed their hotel room, arrested both and recovered the drug exhibits with a total weight of 1.427 kilograms. Operatives of the Lagos state Command of the Agency who made the arrest and seizure had on Thursday 20th July raided Akala in Mushin area of the state where they recovered 37.5kg cannabis from the home of a fleeing suspect.
Meanwhile, attempts to smuggle 98 cartons containing Five Million One Hundred and Twenty Two Thousand Nine Hundred (5, 122, 900) pills of Tramadol 225mg with an estimated street value of about Three Billion Seven Hundred Million Naira (N3.7billion) only into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, have been thwarted through the robust synergy between men of the Nigeria Customs Service and NDLEA officers at the airport as well as those at the DHL cargo warehouse. Preliminary findings revealed that the consignments were imported from India and Pakistan, while some of the seized consignments had Freetown, Sierra Leone as final destination.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Bauchi state have recovered a total of Six Million Two Hundred and Sixty-Five and Eighty (6,265,080) pills of opioids from three suspects: Emmanuel Onyebuchi, 32; Uche Iyida, 33; and Chinedu Ezeanyim, 32 following their arrest alongside a truck driver and his assistant at Shopping Complex, Maiduguri Bye-Pass, Bauchi town on Wednesday 19th July and the subsequent follow up search of the residence of Iyida on Friday 21st July.
No fewer than Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine Five Hundred (999,500) tablets of Exol-5 were also recovered by operatives from a shop close to the market at Hong Road, Gombi, Adamawa state on Friday 21st July, while 46,000 capsules of tramadol were seized from a suspect, Paul Ajaegbu, 36, along Owerri – Aba road, Imo state on Monday 17th July. Same suspect had earlier been arrested, precisely on 9th February 2023, for the same offence.
In Ondo state, NDLEA operatives in their numbers stormed the Ofosu forest where they destroyed 29 hectares of cannabis farms on Thursday 20th July. The quartet of Osamezu George Chukwuemeka, 51, who owns the farm; his wife Kate Osamezu, 43; Agboola Wasiu, 37 and Mustapha Sanni, were arrested during the operation, while 118.5kg processed cannabis was recovered from the farm. In another raid of the warehouse of a suspect at Elegbeka, Ose LGA, not less than 107 jumbo bags of the same illicit substance weighing 1,132.5kg were recovered on Monday 17th July.
While operatives in Sokoto state arrested a suspect, Charles Nwankwo, 50, with 610kg of cannabis in Tamaje area of Sokoto on Friday 21st July, their counterparts in Yobe also same day nabbed a fleeing suspect Shaibu Musa, 29, in Dawasa while he was offering them a bribe of N500,000 following the seizure of 36kg skunk in his house on Wednesday 19th July.
In Edo state, operatives on Monday 17th July raided the Utese forest Ovia North East LGA where they arrested Victor Asukwo Jack, with 59 bags of processed cannabis sativa weighing 640kg. His two cannabis farms measuring 1.489895 hectares and 2.445295 hectares were destroyed. Also, Endurance Chukwuma, 50, was arrested with seven bags of processed cannabis sativa weighing 68kg, while his cannabis farm measuring 0.254324 hectares was destroyed.
A total of 273kg cannabis was earlier intercepted in a Toyota Sienna Vehicle marked RBC 451 CM on Wednesday 19th July at Ogida, Benin City, and a suspect, Lucky Oriakhi, 41, arrested while operatives also seized 48,380 pills of tramadol in a commercial bus marked KAK 66 XA along Ewohimi road, heading to Kabba, Kogi state and arrested the driver, Ibrahim John. In Nasarawa, two suspects: Abubakar Suleiman, 30 and Shehu Garba (aka Shagari), 29 were arrested along Keffi – Akwanga road on Tuesday 18th July in a Peugeot J5 vehicle loaded with 1,608.4 kilograms of cannabis sativa. The consignment was loaded in Edo state and meant for distribution in Bauchi state.
While a total of 1,556.1kg of cannabis was recovered from two suspects: Jonathan Nuhu, 54 and Mohammed Abubakar, 18, following their arrest at Wudil area of Kano State on Thursday 20th July, 76kg of same substance was seized from Yakubu Muhammad, 32, on Monday 17th July along Okene/Lokoja highway in a trailer coming from Port Harcourt to Kano. In the same vein, operatives in Ogun state on Wednesday 19th July, recovered 810 parcels of cannabis weighing 604kg from the house of one Adetunji Abiodun.
Fresh bid to smuggle into Nigeria, another consignment of Colorado, a synthetic variant of cannabis, through the Tincan port in Apapa Lagos was again on Friday 21st July frustrated by NDLEA officers who discovered a total of 323 parcels of the illicit substance weighing 161.5kg concealed in one of the four used vehicles in a container marked MEDU 7519460 coming from Montreal, Canada, during a joint examination of the shipment.
At least, three suspects are currently in NDLEA custody over the shipment while a bribe of N20 million converted to $22,900 offered operatives by the importer’s agents has also been recovered and documented as evidence.
Impressed by the volume of arrests and seizures made by officers and men of MMIA, Lagos, Bauchi, Adamawa, Ondo, Sokoto, Yobe, Edo, Imo, Kano, Kogi, Ogun, Nasarawa and Tincan Commands in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended them for jobs well done while he urged them and their counterparts across the country to continue the synergy with other security agencies and stakeholders in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA National Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 23rd July 2023
NDLEA arrests drug lord while giving mule 93 cocaine wraps to swallow in Lagos hotel
EFCC Condemns False Narratives on Loss of Officer
By: Dele Oyewale
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, expresses grief on the loss of one of its officers, Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, ASE II Aminu Sahabi Salisu who was killed in cold blood while on a legitimate duty on January 17, 2025 by a suspected internet fraudster, Joshua Chukwubueze Ikechukwu.
Additionally, the Commission views with great concern the irresponsible, callous, inhuman and outrageous narratives being circulated on social media on the whys and wherefores of the fatal accident. It is heinous to reduce the death of a gallant officer who was carrying out patriotic and official duties to social media razzmatazz.
More worrisome is the fact that some faceless commentators are pitching their tents with an alleged criminal who unleashed terror on officers of the EFCC in their line of duty. There is no justification whatsoever to rationalise a murderous act. The milk of human kindness demands that a grieving family, Commission and nation should be spared the shenanigans of false narratives and conjectures on the death of the slain officer.
Salisu, alongside other investigators of the EFCC, were at Dr. J.O. Ukwutinife Close, Ifite, Awka, Anambra State, to arrest some suspected internet fraudsters in the early hours of January 17. The operation was duly documented at the Anambra State Command Headquarters and Area Command of the Nigeria Police in line with operational protocols.
The operation was initially smooth sailing with 37 suspected internet fraudsters already arrested at a two-storey building housing Ikechukwu and other occupants of the house.
However, Ikechukwu, who sighted the investigators through a CCTV Camera mounted at his doorpost and who also confessed sighting them, declined to open his door for the investigators who politely demanded entrance to his apartment. Defying all the introduction and physical sighting of the investigators, he resorted to firing shots at them and killed Salisu in the process and wounded another officer detailed to conduct a search in his apartment.
Preliminary investigations showed that Ikechukwu was involved in coding and online medical supplies of doubtful legitimacy. Two laptops, ipads, several recording devices were recovered from his apartment and his involvement in internet fraud is already established. Though currently in police custody owing to the murderous dimension of his case, the Commission will surely bring him to trial.
The EFCC also wishes to alert the public that the activities of internet fraudsters are becoming patently hazardous to public safety and security. Intelligence has shown that these criminals are carrying arms, involved in kidnapping, banditry, ritual killings and other deadly acts. The public should not fold its arms or allow itself to be deceived that they are mere “Yahoo boys and girls”.
As for the EFCC, every subsequent attack on any of its officers will be met with the force of the law. The Commission will not fold its arms and allow any of its officers to be killed again in cold blood. As a law enforcement agency of repute, the EFCC is unrelenting in riding the nation of internet fraud and other acts of corruption.
While mourning the loss of its officer who paid the supreme price in the service of the nation, the Commission appreciates the invaluable support, condolences and prompt response of sister agencies and well-meaning individuals standing shoulder to shoulder with it at this trying time.
EFCC Condemns False Narratives on Loss of Officer
Soldier Arrested at Borno Express Terminal with Ammunition
By: Zagazola Makama
A soldier identified as Nathaniel Jeremiah, has been arrested by personnel of the 7 Division at the Borno Express Terminal Park in Maiduguri for illegal possession of ammunition.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that Jeremiah, who was on welfare pass and en route to Adamawa State, was apprehended while attempting to board a vehicle at the terminal.
During the routine search, security operatives discovered 89 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition concealed in his personal bag.
The soldier was immediately taken into custody for interrogation, and the recovered ammunition has been handed over to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.
Soldier Arrested at Borno Express Terminal with Ammunition
Two Notorious Bandits Kachalla Idi Mai Randa and Ya’u Killed rival clashes in Zamfara
By: Zagazola Makama
In another blow to banditry in Zamfara State, two notorious bandits, Kachalla Idi Mai Randa and Ya’u, have been killed in separate encounters with rival bandit faction of Dogo Geide.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Malama that Kachalla Idi Mai Randa, a known bandit leader responsible for multiple attacks in the region, was killed in an ambush laid by rival bandit Dogo Geide on Sunday evening.
The attack occurred following a series of violent confrontations between the two factions. Idi Mai Randa had previously led an attack that resulted in the killing of Gide’s boy, prompting him to vow revenge.
Idi Mai Randa’s death comes days after the killing of Ya’u, another notorious bandit who had been previously captured in Tsafe Local Government Area.
Ya’u, a close ally of Idi Mai Randa, had been implicated in numerous attacks and was believed to be in possession of significant weaponry. Although Idi Mai Randa denied any involvement with Ya’u’s weaponry, it is now confirmed that both he and Ya’u have met their Waterloo, with the story of their deaths reported from their emclave early today.
The troops of Operation Fansan Yanma in collaboration with it Air Component as well as federal security forces, continue to make significant strides in dismantling bandit in their hideouts in the region.
The joint effort has already resulted in the deaths of several high profile bandit leaders and the capture of important assets.
Two Notorious Bandits Kachalla Idi Mai Randa and Ya’u Killed rival clashes in Zamfara
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