The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a wanted drug kingpin, Sunday Ibigide, 36, in Asaba, Delta State, three years after he went into hiding.
The NDLEA said Ibigide was caught on Sunday, August 10, while trying to move 250 blocks of skunk weighing 138kg with his distribution bus. He was arrested with an aide, Clement Osuya, 27.
Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, announced the arrest in a statement on Sunday. He explained that Ibigide first came under the agency’s radar in March 2022 after a seizure of 24.137kg of skunk and 10 grams of molly but disappeared afterwards.
In a string of other raids, NDLEA operatives destroyed 37,500kg of cannabis on 15 hectares of farmland in Enugu Ezike, Enugu State, between August 14 and 15. Six suspects were arrested at the farms, while another 74.5kg was recovered for prosecution.
On Saturday, August 16, officers also seized 20,700 pills of tramadol and cocodamol from 53-year-old Emmanuel Ayogu on Nsukka Road, 9th Mile, Enugu. The same day, two men, Nsubechukwu Achidde, 24, and Osiaja Simple Frank, 41, were arrested at Enugu New Market with 27.6kg of skunk.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on August 13 arrested 52-year-old Muyibat Mumuni and her son, Faruk Mumuni, 25, at Ladega Street, Mushin, for storing and distributing 298 blocks of Ghana Loud weighing 149kg. Two days later, another suspect, Emmanuel Samuel, was arrested in Ajah, Lekki, with 8.5kg of Canadian Loud.
Officers in Gombe State arrested Sani Mohammed, 32, on August 11 with 128,000 capsules of tramadol. On the same day, 337,800 capsules of tramadol were intercepted on the Okene-Lokoja Highway, Kogi State, from a commercial bus driven by 47-year-old Sulaiman Oyedokun.
In Taraba State, NDLEA operatives, with support from the Sardauna Emirate Council and the Nigeria Forest Hunters Security Service, destroyed 11,250kg of cannabis on 4.5 hectares of farmland in Tanmiya Forest on August 12. On August 16, 29,840 capsules of tramadol were seized from 20-year-old Saleh Babangida at a Wukari checkpoint.
In Kaduna, officers arrested two suspects, Mohammed Amdife, 46, and Sulaiman Mohammed, 22, for trafficking 22,640 pills of tramadol and rohypnol. Two others, Caroline David, 51, and Abdulhadi Umar, 30, were caught with 111.1kg of skunk on the Zaria-Kano Road.
At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA operatives working with Customs and other agencies recovered 875,000 bottles of codeine syrup worth over N6.1 billion and 3.5 million pills of trodol benzhexol valued at N1.7 billion. The seizure was made during a joint examination of five containers placed under surveillance on August 13 and 14.
In Edo State, 432kg of cannabis was found along Warake-Auchi Road on August 13, while another 130kg was recovered from a warehouse in Sobe the next day.
Kano State operatives arrested Tahiru Madu Manga, 25, with 16kg of skunk and Ibrahim Audu, 47, with 76kg at Gadar Tamburawa on August 13.
On August 11, NDLEA officers at Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry-Lagos Highway arrested Akeem Adegun with 4,320 ampoules of ketamine injection.
Chairman of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the officers for their efforts across multiple states. He urged them “to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.”
