By Ken Afor
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a commercial bus carrying N3.2 million in counterfeit cash allegedly owned by three suspects, an eight-month pregnant woman, Favour Peter, 24; Esther Adukwu, 27; and Ochigbo Michael, 39.
They were arrested at Jabi park in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Tuesday, April 9, following the seizure of fake naira notes in Lokoja, Kogi state.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters Abuja.
Also, operatives of the anti-nacortics agency in collaboration with personnel from the Nigerian Navy Ship Lugard base in Lokoja, intercepted 37-year-old Aliyu Lawal along the Lokoja-Abuja road on Monday, April 8, recovering 620 blocks of cannabis weighing 310kg from him.
In addition, 10 sacks of cannabis weighing 98kg were seized from Jama Obodo, 44, in a commercial bus traveling from Ilesha, Osun state, to Taraba state along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Wednesday, April 10th.
Also, in Cross River state, NDLEA operatives arrested Mrs. Theodora Ita, a 40-year-old widow and mother of two, on Monday, April 8, at Bassey Edom, Calabar.
According to the statement, she was apprehended for producing and selling a dangerous new psychoactive substance (NPS) known locally as ‘Combine’.
The statement noted that the substance is a mixture of various strains of cannabis and opioids soaked in raw gin. At the time of her arrest, NDLEA recovered 18 litres of the illicit substance stored in used paint drums. Mrs. Ita admitted to initiating the illegal drug production and distribution in October 2023.
In a separate incident, another suspect, Godwin Okon Samuel, 48, was arrested at Essit Ebum area of Calabar on Tuesday, April 9, in possession of 39.4kg of cannabis sativa.
Elsewhere, two suspects, Sani Mohammed, 43, and Christopher Eze, 64, were arrested in Sabon Gari area of Kano state on Tuesday 9th April with 900,000 pills of opioid recovered from them.
In another seizure, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Owerri-Onitsha road, Imo state on Friday, April 12, intercepted a logistics truck with registration number JGB 403XB and recovered 230 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 119kg hidden under household items after a thorough search.
Further seizures were recorded by the agency in which 252 kilograms of cannabis were recovered during a raid at Ijesa Isu forest, Ekiti state on Saturday, April 13.
In Edo State, the operatives arrested Adamu Umar, 39; Abdullahi A Gimba, 27; Julius Uduakhomu, 28; and Micheal Sunday, 24, while loading 40kg of cannabis to the engine compartment of a gas truck at Agho village, Owan East, Edo state. Also, two motorcycles used in carrying the consignment to the gas truck heading to the northern part of the country were recovered.
Similarly, in Ogun state, the NDLEA operatives arrested Ismaila Ogun on Friday with 79kg cannabis at Imeko, while 18-year-old Friday Abah was nabbed with 410kg of the same substance during a raid by the operatives at Obatedo camp, Itaogbolu forest, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo state.
The statement added that the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the officers in the various states where the seizures and arrests were recorded for their performance in the War Against Drug Abuse, (WADA) advocacy campaign in the country.
It said: “While commending the officers and men of the Kogi, Cross River, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, Imo, Kano, and Edo Commands of the Agency for their outstanding feats in drug supply reduction, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) equally applauded them and their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures, aimed at drug demand reduction.”
