Lagos, Oct. 1, 2023 – Obiorah Chigozie Samuel, a suspected drug kingpin, was arrested in Lagos on Thursday by the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) while attempting to export 3.5 kilogrammes of illicit drugs to London.
Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA Spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday that the drug suspect had been on the wanted list of the anti-narcotics agency since September 15, 2023.
He said the suspected had been wanted since when a consignment of 1.500kg skunk concealed in flour going to London, UK, was intercepted at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos, and his freight agent, Nworah Adaugo Precious, was arrested.
“Convinced that the 1.500kg consignment had sailed through, Obiorah walked into the Agency’s dragnet on Thursday 28th September when he personally brought another tranche of 2.00kg concealed in cartons to the airport for shipment to the UK.
“In an interview, Obiorah claimed he was into shoe sales in Lagos before venturing into the illicit drug business.”
Babafemi also said that operatives of the agency in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command on Friday, September 29, 2023 intercepted a container truck with registration number BD G41 XM coming from Lagos to Kano at the Gwagwalada area of the FCT.
“No less than 1,188 kilograms of skunk loaded at Owo, Ondo state and hidden under cartons of tooth paste were recovered from the truck and its driver, Amafan Fattison, 28, arrested.
“In the same vein, NDLEA officers in Bayelsa State on Wednesday, September 27, seized 432kgs of the same substance from an abandoned J5 bus along Saipem Road, Opolo, Yenagoa, the state capital.
Babafemi said the vehicle was equally recovered from the scene for further investigation.
He said that in Kano State, a septuagenarian, Ado Mai Unguwa, 70, was arrested on Saturday, September 30, with 143.2kgs skunk in Dindere village, Tofa LGA of the state, while operatives in Enugu State on same day recovered 110.6kgs of same substance from a locked-up shop at Aria new market.
Also, operatives in Lagos State also on Saturday, September 30, raided the notorious Idi-Oro drug enclave in Mushin area of the State where they seized 212.5kgs of cannabis sativa belonging to a wanted drug lord.
This is even as NDLEA officers in Kwara State recovered 104kgs of skunk from a Toyota Camry car in Offa area of the state.
A Chadian, Mohammed Ibrahim, 25, was nabbed at Mafa checkpoint in Borno State with 11.8kgs of same substance on Monday, September 25.
In Plateau, the State Police Command in the spirit of inter-agency collaboration transferred four suspects, Yusuf Akim, Frank Gah, Jackson Ejeh and Joseph Utsu, and 1,978kgs cannabis recovered from them to the state command of NDLEA.
In Cross River, operatives on Monday, September 25, seized 40,000 ampules of pentazocine injection from two suspects, Fajulugbe Adeshola Temitayo, 35, and Nnaorji Agwe Solomon, 54, at Mobil by MCC Road, Calabar.
Also, in Kogi State, NDLEA officers on Wednesday, September 27, arrested a suspect, Ifeanyi Odoh, 25, with 59,867 pills of opioids including Tramadol and 4.03kgs cannabis sativa at Idah area of the state.
The NDLEA spokesman said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy activities equally continued across the country in the past week. (GBN)
