Anambra: NDLEA arrests 75-year-old grandpa, destroys 178,000kg skunk

…Intercepts 104,900 tramadol caps in fuel tanker, 280 pills of opioids, recovers N7.9m cash

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 75-year-old man, Uchelue Ikechukwu, along with six others for possession of illicit substances during raids in parts of Anambra State.

Also, a 30-year-old man, Alfa Andrew, was taken into custody following the destruction of 178,750 kilograms of skunk cultivated on his 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in the Mayodoga forest, Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, Uchelue was arrested at Umudioka, Dunukofia LGA of Anambra with 26.7kg of skunk on Thursday.

Other suspects — Eneh Makuo, Emmanuel Chiemeli, Uwakwe Matthew, Chukwujekwu Ehirim, Ifeanyichukwu Olisa, and Odoh Chukwuma — were apprehended in Nkwelle and Amichi areas of the state with varying quantities of opioids and skunk.

In Taraba, Andrew was arrested with a Dane gun on 26th August when NDLEA operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Forest Security Service, Mambila Youth Vanguard, and Vigilante groups, stormed his farm at Mayodoga forest, Mayosabere ward, Sardauna LGA, where they destroyed 178,750 kilograms of skunk.

In Kaduna, no fewer than 104,900 capsules of tramadol concealed in the driver’s compartment of a fuel tanker were intercepted at the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate on Friday. The consignment, suspected to be headed for insurgents in Borno State, led to the arrest of one Hassan Buba. On Saturday, another suspect, Kabir Sulaiman, was nabbed with 34.150kg of skunk at Gwargwaje-Zaria checkpoint.

Also, acting on intelligence, operatives arrested a major supplier of illicit opioids in Borno State, 33-year-old Uchenna Umeh, shortly after he received supplies from Onitsha, Anambra State. Recovered from his apartment in Chescon, Pompomary area of Maiduguri were 30,640 pills of tramadol 225mg, 7,940 tablets of rohypnol, and ₦7,999,200 in cash, mostly in ₦200 new notes.

In Nasarawa, NDLEA operatives arrested a suspect, Abubakar Dauda, with 79,040 pills of tramadol and diazepam at Abacha Park, Mararaba Karu, on Thursday. This followed the arrest of Babangida Tungura in Lafia on 26th August with 30,410 pills of tramadol and rohypnol, as well as 38 bottles of codeine-based syrup concealed in a deep freezer from Asaba, Delta State.

In Adamawa, a 23-year-old suspect, Mohammed Ali, was arrested on Wednesday in Ngorore after his consignment of 15,000 tramadol capsules, concealed in sacks of animal feed, was intercepted at Gombe Mega Park.

In Kano, operatives on 26th August arrested two suspects, Ashiru Garba and Aminu Abdu, along the Kano-Hadeja road with 1.5kg of skunk and 25,000 pills of exol-5. Two others, Ali Muhammad and Muhammad Maishanu, were arrested on Thursday along Zaria-Kano road, Gadan Tamburawa, with 8,080 bottles of a new psychoactive substance and 25.7kg of skunk. Similarly, 250,000 tablets of exol-5 were seized from a suspect, Alhasaan Musa, in Zango area, Ungogo LGA, Kano, while Hamisu Abdullahi was arrested in Yola, Adamawa, on 25th August after operatives intercepted a vehicle loaded with pepper used to conceal 79 blocks of skunk weighing 58kg.

In Edo, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Ewu-Auchi road, Etsako West LGA, intercepted 64,250 pills of opioids, mainly tramadol, in a commercial bus traveling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Okene, Kogi State. One Mohammed Halidu was arrested in connection with the seizure.

Two suspects, Elves Odogwu and David Jeremiah, were arrested on 27th August during a raid on Queen Elizabeth Aponmun Reserved Camp in Ondo State, where 117.5kg of processed cannabis and seeds were recovered.

In Lagos, 164kg of skunk were recovered from the residence of one Michael Ayodele in Mushin, where he was arrested on Saturday.

In Ekiti, NDLEA operatives made the state’s single largest seizure of Loud and Colorado, two strong strains of cannabis. Acting on intelligence, officers raided Nova Street, behind New Creation School, Ado-Ekiti, on Friday, recovering 5.3kg of Loud and Colorado and 2.5g of methamphetamine from a 42-year-old drug kingpin, Ajayi Ayodeji Idowu (a.k.a. Atiku).

Meanwhile, NDLEA Commands nationwide continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization lectures and advocacy visits to worship centers, schools, workplaces, palaces of traditional rulers, and communities throughout the past week.

Commending officers and men in Anambra, Taraba, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo, and Edo States for their successful operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), also applauded other commands across the country for intensifying WADA sensitization and advocacy campaigns.

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