Crime
NDLEA arrests Lagos airport cleaner who leads drug syndicate
NDLEA arrests Lagos airport cleaner who leads drug syndicate
By Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a cleaner at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Sunday Ohiagu, alleged to be the lead of a drug syndicate at the international wing of the airport.
A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi said Ohiagu was nabbed last Tuesday following the arrest of an intending passenger on Air Peace flight to Dubai, UAE, Obinna Osita who was arrested with three bags, two of which contained eight blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 4.25 kilogrammes concealed in cassava product, gari and crayfish.
Babafemi said one other member of the airport syndicate who works with Ohiagu has also been arrested while operatives are after another suspect.
He said investigations revealed that a Dubai-based drug dealer recruited 42-year old Obinna, to traffic the drugs and equally contracted Ohiagu, a 34-year-old airport cleaner to create access for the unhindered passage of the trafficker.
He said the drug syndicate bust, which is the first drug arrest at the new terminal of the MMIA comes on the heels of the seizure of a consignment of bottles of Viju and Fearless energy drinks used to conceal skunk for export to Dubai, UAE through the NAHCO export shed on Monday 15th Aug of which a freight agent has already been arrested in connection with the seizure.
The spokesman also revealed that an attempt by a syndicate to export illicit drugs through the Lagos airport last Wednesday was foiled during an outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airline to Oman via Addis Ababa.
He said a suspect Jonah Chukwuemeka was arrested with a total of 1,995 tramadol tablets with a gross weight of 900 grammes hidden in locust beans in his luggage. The bag containing the illicit substance was handed over to him at the airport by one Olagunju Abbas who was promptly arrested.
Also packs of tramadol 225mg containing 119,500 capsules were last Thursday transferred to NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs, cargo wing of MMIA. The consignment had come in through Ethiopian Airline from Pakistan.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives on Saturday raided a car shop, Bolak Motors at Ewela bus stop, Oshodi where bags of 615.2 kilogrammes cannabis were recovered along with nine vehicles. Efforts are ongoing to track the car dealer, Alhaji Ismail who is currently at large.
Babafemi said no fewer than eight suspects were arrested and bags of illicit drugs seized from them when Akerele area of Agege, Shogunle and Mafoluku areas of Oshodi, Fagba area of Ogba, Ipodo area of Ikeja and Iyana Ipaja park were raided in Lagos state.
In Yobe state, two suspected fake security agents taking 14kg cannabis to Maiduguri, Borno state were intercepted along Potiskum- Damaturu road. While Adetula Olarenwaju was arrested with four blocks of the substance last Thursday on his way from Lagos, Sadiq Garba returning from Gombe was nabbed with 22 blocks of the substance on Saturday.
In Edo, Abu Sunday was arrested with 48.4 kilogrammes cannabis at Idk quarter, Ibilo, while Rosemary Afekhuai was caught with 1,130 tramadol caps, among others at Oluma quarters, Otuo, Owan East local government area.
In Delta, Mustapha Isah, was arrested at Oko Market with 9, 800 tramadol caps weighing 6.4 kilogrammes while NDLEA operatives in Kaduna also nabbed Chinedu Onnuka, at Narayi Kaduna with 33,000 tablets of Bromazepam.
He said no fewer than 80 blocks of cannabis sativa were recovered from an abandoned tricycle with reg. no: BAU 70 WL while 25,000 tablets of exol-5 were seized from a dealer, Usman Muhammed who was nabbed along Bauchi-Gombe road.
He said a raid operation at a market in Mubi, Adamawa state last Wednesday 24th led to the seizure of 62,360 tablets of tramadol, diazepam and exol-5 while two suspects, Sirajo Idris and Anas Abubakar were arrested same day with 107 pallets of cannabis at Kamba, a border town in Kebbi State. The skunk weighing 90 kilogrammes was smuggled in from Benin Republic.
In Kano, a drug dealer Lawal Adamu, 31, was arrested along Zaria-Kano road, Kwanar Dangora, with 203 blocks of cannabis weighing 136 kilogrammes, while another suspect, Taheer Abdullahi was nabbed on Friday 26th Aug. at Gadar Tamburawa, with 3000 ampules of tramadol injection.
A raid operation at Kara Masaka, back of Mararaba market and Zamani estate on Saturday 27th Aug. led to the arrest of 26 suspects, while 25.7 kilogrammes cannabis, 4.5kg codeine and 300 tablets of rohypnol tablets were seized from the drug joints raided. In Sokoto state, the village head of Ruga, Shagari local government area, Alhaji Umaru Mohammed (aka Danbala), a notorious drug dealer who was arrested last will be facing charges any moment from now.
He said before his recent arrest during which 436.381 kilogrammes cannabis and 1 kilogramme diazepam were recovered from his house, an earlier raid on his home on July 20th 2022 had led to the seizure of 11.5 kilogrammes cannabis, 2.259 kilogrammes exol5 and 500 grammes of diazepam.
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Kano, Kaduna, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Edo, Delta and Lagos Commands for the arrests and seizures. He however charged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their oars.
NDLEA arrests Lagos airport cleaner who leads drug syndicate
Sokoto mother arrested for kidnapping 4-year-old son in Kebbi
By: Zagazola Makama
A four-year-old boy has been rescued unhurt after being kidnapped in Koko Local Government Area of Kebbi State, while the mother was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the abduction.
Zagazola learnt that the victim, Abdulmumini Surajo, went missing on Nov. 26, 2025. Later that day, the father received a call from an unknown female voice demanding a ransom of five million naira (₦5,000,000).
Police detectives traced the call and identified the caller as Maryam Muhammad, 25, a married woman from the same area. She was promptly arrested and confessed to the crime.
The boy was rescued on Nov. 29, 2025, at about 6:08 p.m. in Mahuta, Fakai Local Government Area.
Sokoto mother arrested for kidnapping 4-year-old son in Kebbi
Police repel Boko Haram attack in Konduga, launch manhunt for abductors
By: Zagazola Makama
The Borno Police Command says its operatives have repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists on Malari village in Konduga Local Government Area, while a joint search-and-rescue operation is underway to free three abducted farmers.
Sources said the incident occurred on Nov. 30 at about 12:00 p.m. when the terrorists, riding on more than 15 motorcycles, invaded the community and opened fire.
During the attack, a 15-year-old boy, Basha Goigoi of Muna, was shot in the right thigh and rushed to the General Hospital, Maiduguri, where he is currently receiving treatment.
The assailants also abducted three residents identified as Alhaji Kundili (35), Baba Goni (45) and Modu Baluye (50), all of Malari village, while they were working on their farms.
The Police Crack Squad deployed in Konduga responded swiftly, engaging the terrorists in a gun battle and successfully repelling the attack.
A combined team comprising the troops of Operation HADIN KAI, police tactical squads, Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and local hunters has since launched a coordinated operation to track the attackers and rescue the abducted victims.
Security forces urged residents to remain vigilant and continue providing timely information to security agencies to aid ongoing counter-terrorism efforts in the area.
Police repel Boko Haram attack in Konduga, launch manhunt for abductors
NDLEA uncovers illicit drugs packaged as Christmas cookies, arrests distributors in Lagos
By: Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have dismantled a social media network used to distribute illicit substances packaged as imported Christmas cookies and snacks.
The two masterminds of the initiative were also arrested and taken into custody after a raid on their hideout in Lekki area of Lagos.
A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi said the drug syndicate run by the duo of Deji Adesanya and Olubiyi Majekodunmi had imported consignments of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis and a variety of colourful designer sachets with pictures and labels of cookies and snacks printed on them, and used to package the psychoactive substance in retail quantities.
Babafemi said following credible intelligence about the activities of the syndicate which operates and distributes through a WhatsApp platform, NDLEA operatives on Saturday raided their apartment at Ojulari street, Ikate area of Lekki where a large quantity of the designer sachets and 5 kilogrammes of Loud were recovered from them at the point of their arrest.
He said in another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives last Thursday arrested a 38-year-old drug kingpin Philip Ucheka while taking delivery of 110 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 55.6 kilogrammes at Ladipo area of Mushin. He added that at the point of his arrest, three delivery vehicles were also seized from him.
The spokesman said at a courier company in Lagos, 100 grammes of Loud concealed in teddy bear imported from Thailand were intercepted last Thursday while a consignment of 548 capsules of tramadol hidden in bottles of Vitamin C and Magnesium going to the United Kingdom were recovered at another logistics firm the following day.
In Oyo state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Lagos -Ibadan expressway on Saturday m nabbed a suspect Wasiu Kareem, 55, with 8,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection; 590 bottles of codeine syrup; 1,500 pills of Co-codamol and 9,900 capsules of tramadol.
He said no fewer than seven suspects were arrested last Monday when NDLEA operatives raided the Ipe forest in Akoko South East area of Ondo State where they recovered 3,077 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis. Those arrested include: John Ede; Ede Ndubuisi; Ikenna Abe; Eze Chukwuma; Maduabuchi Odo; Nnaji Chudubem and Gorge Okowor.
He said while Anthony Sylvester, 49, was arrested along Okene/Lokoja highway Kogi state conveying 649 kilogrammes skunk in a truck last Wednesday, NDLEA officers at the Seme Special Area Command on Friday raided a warehouse at Ashipa, Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos where they arrested a suspect Abubakar Shuaibu, 33, with 487 blocks of skunk weighing 243.5 kilogrammes.
In Kano, Tsalha Alasan, 47, was arrested along Zaria-Kano road with 137 kilogrammes skunk last Monday, while three suspects: Godspower Appeal, 50; Ernest Upong, 55; and Godday Chukwudi, 38, were nabbed last Wednesday with 322 blocks of skunk weighing 209 kilogrammes at Fanshanu village, Toro local government area, Bauchi state. A black Toyota Highlander jeep marked ABJ 533 EA used in conveying the consignment was also recovered from them.
A suspect John Ekojo, 51, was arrested with 210.15 kilogrammes skunk along Abuja/Jos highway on Saturday, while a couple: Abubakar Abdullahi, 45, and Jamila Abdullahi, 35, were nabbed along Abuja/Kaduna highway with 725 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition concealed in a sack of maize just as another suspect Awwal Sabiu, 20, was caught with 400 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition at Abuja/Kaduna tollgate on Friday.
Babafemi said with the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), while commending the officers and men of DOGI, Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Seme and Bauchi commands for the various successful operations, enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.
NDLEA uncovers illicit drugs packaged as Christmas cookies, arrests distributors in Lagos
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