Crime

NDLEA Intercepts iover N7billion worth of Opioids at Apapa, Onne seaports

Published

7 months ago

October 20, 2024

NDLEA Intercepts iover N7billion worth of Opioids at Apapa, Onne seaports
..Arrests 2 Businesswomen, Canada-based Nurse for Cocaine, Loud Trafficking at Lagos Airport

By: Michael Mike

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos two businessmen: Ihejirika Okechukwu and Iwuagwu Ikedi as well as a Canada-based nurse Usman Olami for attempting to import and export cocaine pellets and parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis through the airport.

A statement by the spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi on Sunday said Ihejirika who have been a frequent visitor to Thailand from where he claims to be importing fish into Nigeria was arrested last Tuesday while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Thailand via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Babafemi said when he was taken for body scan, the result showed he ingested illicit drug which proved to be cocaine, and as a result, he was placed under excretion observation during which he digested five big egg size wraps of cocaine weighing 400 grammes.

In his statement, Babafemi said the 51-year-old suspect confessed that he was to be paid upon successful delivery of the drug consignment in Thailand, adding that he took the job to raise money to boost his fish importation business.

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport last Thursday intercepted a 26-year-old businessman Iwuagwu Ikedi coming from Brazil via Addis Ababa during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight.

According to Babafemi, Iwuagwu body scan revealed ingestion of illicit drug which made him to be placed under observation, where he excreted a pellet of cocaine weighing 22 grammes.

He was said to have confessed that he ingested 30 wraps of the illicit drug in Brazil but excreted 29 pellets in Addis Ababa, where he handed them over to another person, he equally revealed that he was to be paid N2.5 million for trafficking the drug.

A Nigerian Canadian nurse Usman Olami was on 4th October arrested by NDLEA officers at the Lagos airport during the inward clearance of Air France passengers from Toronto, Canada via Paris. During a search of her luggage, a total of 70 parcels of Canadian Loud, weighing 35.7 kilogrammes were recovered from her.

Babafemi said during her interrogation, she claimed she was in Nigeria to meet her boyfriend who instructed her to come with the large consignment of the highly sought-after synthetic cannabis.

At the seaports, Babafemi said a total of 162,351 bottles of codeine based syrup were intercepted from two containers at the Apapa seaport in Lagos by NDLEA operatives during a joint examination of two containers with men of the Customs Service and other security agencies last Tuesday while not less than N7.2 million pills of Royal 225mg Tapentadol and Carisoprodol worth N3.6 million in street value were seized from a watch-listed container from India at Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state last Tuesday.

In the same container, 780 cartons of chlorphenamine containing 15.6 million pills of the opioid, were also recovered. From two other watch-listed containers equally searched at the port in Onne, a total of 337,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth about N2.4 billion were recovered from them last Tuesday and Thursday, bringing the total value of the seized Tapentadol, Carisoprodol and Codeine consignments at the two seaports about N7.1 billion.

In Bauchi state, a suspect Sunday Ogenyi, 33, was arrested along Bauchi-Jos road with 76,600 pills of tramadol concealed in false compartments of his Toyota Sienna vehicle marked Enugu JRV 341 ZY, while NDLEA operatives in Ondo state last Tuesday arrested three suspects: Goddey Obizuo; Samuel Aniete; and Kuffrey Aniete at Afo village where 672 kilogrammes cannabis sativa was seized from them.

A raid at Illushi forest in Esan South East LGA, Edo state led to the destruction of 10,590.36 kilogrammes cannabis spread on 4.236144 hectares of farmland. Suspects arrested during the operation include: Benson Upuoni, 65; and Sunday Nwaeboyi, 35.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 15th October arrested Andrew Anoriode with 3 kilogrammes methamphetamine and 1.9 kilogrammes cannabis along Lagos – Ibadan expressway while 241 kilogrammes of same substance was recovered at Gbaji, Badagry area of the state. A suspected meth cook, Agbeiboh Oscar, was nabbed same Tuesday at Abule Osun with 265 grammes of methamphetamine and different quantities of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine and others.

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 MMIA, PHPC, Apapa, Lagos, Bauchi, Ondo, and Edo commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures, stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.

NDLEA Intercepts iover N7billion worth of Opioids at Apapa, Onne seaports

Crime

Terrorists attack herder, rustle 200 cattle in Monguno

Published

3 hours ago

May 24, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Terrorists attack herder, rustle 200 cattle in Monguno

By: Zagazola Makama

Unknown gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists from the Buduma faction, shot a herder and rustled about 200 cattle in Yele bush area, Monguno Local Government Area, Borno State.

Sources told Zagazola Makama that three incident occurred on May 20, 2025, at about 11:00 a.m., according to a report by Abubakar Mohammed of Fulatari Ward, Monguno.

The sources said that his younger brother, Muhammadu Hammadu, 30, was grazing his cattle when the gunmen on foot attacked him, sustaining bullet wounds on his right hand and right buttock.

Security forces are intensifying efforts to track the attackers and recover the stolen livestock.

Terrorists attack herder, rustle 200 cattle in Monguno

Crime

Police officer arrested over alleged Cybercrime, Fraud in Ogun

Published

2 days ago

May 23, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Police officer arrested over alleged Cybercrime, Fraud in Ogun

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Police Force in Ogun has arrested one of its officers, Police Constable Idris Oloyede, over alleged involvement in conspiracy, stealing, cybercrime and other related offences.

Zagazola was reliably informed that the arrest was carried out on Wednesday by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweran, Abeokuta.

A police sources told Zagazola that Oloyede, who bears Force Number 537972, is attached to the patrol team at Odeda Divisional Headquarters.

According to the police sources, the arrest followed credible intelligence and investigation that linked the officer to the suspected crimes.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Odeda Division immediately released the officer for further interrogation upon the arrival of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit. The suspect has been transferred to the SCID for detailed investigation.

Police officer arrested over alleged Cybercrime, Fraud in Ogun

Crime

Army eliminate 6 Bandits as Forest Sanity III’ pushes deeper into Sokoto forests

Published

2 days ago

May 22, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Army eliminate 6 Bandits as Forest Sanity III’ pushes deeper into Sokoto forests

By: Zagazola Makama

As the troops of Operation FANSAN YABMA have continued their aggressive operations in the thick undergrowth of Gandumi Forest, North of Goronyo, the stillness of a late-morning haze was shattered on Thursday as soldiers from the 8 Division Gar Strike Team swept through a cluster of makeshift huts and weapons pits.

It was the latest push under Operation Forest Sanity III, a rolling clearance campaign designed to uproot terrorist and bandit enclaves that have long exploited Sokoto’s sprawling woodlands as a sanctuary.

Between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., the troops struck two separate hideouts: one in Gandumi Forest, Goronyo Local Government Area, and another in Indulumu village, Maradun LGA. Military sources told Zagazola Makama that six armed militants were neutralised in the combined raids.

Two AK-47 rifles, three motor-cycles, camouflage fatigues, assorted drugs and maintenance kits were recovered, while the camps themselves were levelled and set ablaze to prevent re-occupation.

“Every foot of ground we seize in these forests denies criminals a staging area,” a senior officer on the mission explained. “The goal is to keep them constantly off balance so they cannot regroup or threaten nearby communities.”

Barely an hour later and 70 kilometres away, a separate drama unfolded in Isa Local Government Area. Dozens of bandits riding motorcycles rolled toward Gamaroji, a dusty farming community often hit by rustling raids, only to meet an ambush laid by crack operatives on special assignment.

Acting on what authorities described as “specific, time-sensitive intelligence,” the team intercepted the convoy at about 11 a.m. A fierce exchange of fire ensued; one gunman was killed, the rest fled, abandoning two Honda motorcycles, an empty AK magazine and two assault rifles bearing.

Local residents told Zagazola Makama that the rapid response averted what could have been a mass abduction or livestock theft.

“We heard gunshots outside the village and thought they had come for us again,” said farmer Bawa Yusuf. “When it fell silent, we saw security men bringing out seized rifles. People are breathing easier tonight.”

Sokoto’s Eastern corridor from Goronyo down through Isa into Zamfara’s Maradun axis forms a critical transit route for armed gangs shuttling cattle, weapons and abductees between forest camps and black market buyers.

Operation Forest Sanity III, launched in March as the newest phase of the multi agency offensive, focuses on these corridors. Its mix of deliberate daytime assaults and intelligence driven night manoeuvres has already yielded a string of weapons recoveries and hostage rescues.

A defence Intelligence said the aim is two-fold: “Deny the bad actors depth and logistics, while reassuring civilians that the state is reclaiming every contested space.”

For villages like Gamaroji and Indulumu, each successful raid offers a brief respite. Yet many residents remain cautious, mindful that retreating fighters often strike back at soft targets.

A District head who chose to be anonymous for the fear of being targeted urged continued vigilance. “We thank the security forces for today’s success,” he told Zagazola. “But we still need sustained patrols and quick response lines because the criminals melt into other forests.”

Military commanders say the campaign will persist “until all camps are dismantled and freedom of movement is restored.

Zagazola Makama is a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad Region
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