A Spain-based businessman, 50-year-old Francis Akajiobi, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, after parcels of cocaine weighing 1.20 kilograms were discovered in his pair of sandals while attempting to board his Royal Air Maroc flight to Madrid, Spain.
The two parcels of cocaine were concealed in the soles of a pair of black sandals Akajiobi was wearing to board his flight when NDLEA operatives intercepted him on Thursday, 25th July 2024. During his preliminary interview, he claimed the consignment was delivered to him at a bar in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and was to deliver it to his friend and neighbor in Spain for a fee of Five Thousand Euros (€5,000) upon successful delivery to the recipient.
In the same vein, a suspect, Makinde Sodiq Lekan, has been arrested in connection with the seizure of 99 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 51.60kg, that arrived at the SAHCO Imports shed of the Lagos airport on a Turkish Airlines flight from Canada via Istanbul, Turkey.
Meanwhile, operatives of a Special Operations Unit targeting syndicates that specialize in shipping large consignments of opioids into neighboring countries, from where they attempt to smuggle them into Nigeria in smaller quantities through transport companies, have arrested one of the kingpins, Chukwuemaka Obodozie. He was arrested in the early hours of Sunday, 21st July, at Cele Bus Stop along Oshodi-Apapa Express Road, Lagos, with 100,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg loaded in two bags shortly after his arrival from Ghana via one of the transport companies plying the Lagos-Ghana route. The intelligence-led operation followed five months of surveillance around Chukwuemeka.
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No fewer than 17 suspects were arrested on Friday, 26th July, when NDLEA operatives raided the Owena Forest in Oriade LGA, Osun State, where they destroyed 31,250 kilograms of cannabis on 12.5 hectares of farmland, while 84kg of processed cannabis sativa was recovered along with a single-barrel Dane gun. Those arrested include Peter Osuya, 51; Zebron Ode, 46; Dogo Reuben Matthew, 35; Isaac Terna; Joseph David Lawrence, 27; Ugochukwu Victory, 24; Olamilekan Abolarin, 26; Dele Ayibo, 44; Ojo Moses, 21; Nini Ayila, 27; Msughve Clement, 23; Chuks Ogeneku, 40; Dada Aribo, 20; Uche Endurance, 30; Patrick Agba, 21; Osakwe Kennedy, 45; and Ojo Babatunde, 29.
In Kaduna State, NDLEA operatives on stop-and-search patrol along Kaduna-Zaria Highway on Saturday, 27th July, intercepted a 32-year-old lady, Ubaida Aliyu, in possession of 573 rounds of 7.60 live ammunition, which she claimed she was attempting to deliver to bandits in Sokoto.
While a suspect, Godwin Udochukwu, 35, was arrested in connection with the seizure of 25,000 ampoules of Pentazocine injection by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Kaduna-Zaria Highway, another suspect, Alkasim Mikailu, 35, was nabbed in Kano on a follow-up operation following the seizure of 37,880 ampoules of Diazepam injection along Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
Two suspects, Abioye Adeniyi, 39, and Rafiu Lekan, 41, were arrested with 55 jumbo wraps of Ghana Loud by NDLEA operatives at Oloko along Badagry-Seme Road, Lagos, on Friday, 26th July, while Samson Ifeayi Egwutouhi, 30, was nabbed the same day by officers on patrol along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Expressway with 20 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa that weighed 10.500kg. In Bauchi State, two suspects, Suleiman Yahaya, 50, and Ibrahim Bello (a.k.a Special), 35, were on Thursday, 25th July, arrested with 315 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 204.750kg along Maiduguri Bye-pass, Bauchi town.
With the same drive, commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centers, workplaces, and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture for students of Government Secondary School, Gada, Sokoto State; pupils of Holy Trinity Primary School, Aroje, Ogbomoso, Oyo State; students of Holy Innocent Juniorate, Nkpor Onitsha, Anambra State; students of Government Christian Secondary School, Shuwa Madagali, Adamawa State; and commercial motorcycle riders at Oke Afo, Badagry, Lagos State, among others.
While commending the officers and men of the Special Operations Unit, MMIA, Osun, Bauchi, Kogi, Seme, and Kaduna Commands for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised their pulverizing onslaught against drug cartels across the country. He also expressed delight in the balance of their drug supply reduction efforts with drug demand reduction activities while urging them not to rest on their oars.
