By Hosea Parah
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested 11 Nigerians and two Togolese in possession of drugs in Enugu, Lagos, Bauchi and Oyo states.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, also stated that operatives had intercepted over N3 billion worth of opioids at Lagos airport and destroyed two cannabis farms in Edo State.
Babafemi stated that operatives on Thursday nabbed a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, after excreting 72 wraps of cocaine he was allegedly attempting to traffic to Portugal.
Babafemi stated that the groom was intercepted at the departure hall of the airport, “with cocaine in his gut and wedding ring on his finger, while he attempted to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa. He was subsequently placed under excretion observation during which he egested a total of 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.
“The suspect, who claimed he was into car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos before he relocated to Portugal in May 2023, said he returned to Nigeria recently to get married on 13th September 2026. He said he resorted to the criminal trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.”
He also stated that on Tuesday, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, uncovered one of the year’s biggest opioid hauls during a joint examination of three monitored consignments.
The operatives seized, “Two Million Five Hundred and Fifty-Five Thousand (2,550,000) pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilogrammes. The consignments, were imported from India and Bangladesh via Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines.”
Also in Lagos, Babafemi said, “two female suspects: Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested on Saturday 26th September when NDLEA operatives raided Anifowoshe Street in Mushin where they recovered 3.4kg skunk from them.
“In another operation in Lagos same day, NDLEA officers intercepted a 58-year-old man Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park, with large quantities of illicit consignments, including: 5.920kg skunk; 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection; 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam; and 40,000 pills of tramadol.”
Operatives at the Seme border in Badagry apprehended 40-year-old Kingsley John, 44-year-old John Chibuike Okeke, 40-year-old Lamidi Ismaila, 42-year-old Babatunde Samuel, and 47-year-old Afeesu Idowu.
The five suspects were nabbed in possession of “420 cartons of nitrous oxide popularly called laughing gas weighing 1,688.4kg, along with two vehicles used in conveying the exhibit from the border into Lagos.”
The NDLEA, in Bauchi, arrested “two suspects: Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 262.5kg, concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH, while two cannabis farms with a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo state were destroyed by NDLEA officers supported by soldiers on Wednesday 23rd September.”
The agency also stated that, “Two Togolese nationals: Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were nabbed by NDLEA officers on Saturday 26th September at Iganna-Ilero road, Iganna, Oyo state with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pick-up vans used for cross-border trafficking racket, moving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.”
Commending the officers for the successful operations, the NDLEA chairman, Buba Marwa, urged them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.