By Daniel Edu
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made significant arrests in different operations, including a wheelchair-bound drug dealer and an ex-convict, as detailed in recent reports.
In Afuze, the headquarters of Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, the NDLEA arrested a physically challenged drug dealer, Godwin Emuneyin, aged 45. Despite his wheelchair use, Emuneyin allegedly used it as a cover to engage in the illicit trade of substances like methamphetamine and cannabis. The agency recovered a wooden box containing 18 pinches of methamphetamine, one block, and 71 wraps of cannabis during his arrest.
Other operations in Edo State included the recovery of 42 bags of cannabis (480kgs) from a camp in Aviosi forest and the raiding of Utese forest in Ovia North East LGA, resulting in the confiscation of 231.5kgs of cannabis and the destruction of a cannabis farm.
In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Corolla loaded with 30,899 tramadol pills along the Ngurore-Yola Road. The driver, Sani Samaila, claimed the consignment was from Jalingo, Taraba State, destined for Yola, Adamawa State. In another operation, a suspect named Abdullahi Sani was arrested in Ngurore town with dried weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa, leading to the recovery of 19 blocks of compressed cannabis from the home of an alleged drug lord, Alhaji Bubakari.
In Ogun State, a joint team of NDLEA operatives and other security agencies destroyed 18.875 tonnes of cannabis on a farmland and recovered 100 jumbo bags (1,100kg) of the substance in James town, Ogunmakin area of Obafemi Owode LGA. Okpor Chukwuma and six other male suspects were arrested during the operation.
Other arrests included a commercial bus driver, Olayinka Sowo, apprehended along the Ibadan-Akure Expressway for the alleged conspiracy to transport 45.150kgs of cannabis from Lagos to Osun State. In Abuja, NDLEA officers intercepted 7,980 pills of diazepam and 567 bottles of codeine syrup in a commercial bus along Abaji-Abuja highway, leading to the arrest of the consignment’s owner, Ugwu Ikenna.
In Delta State, NDLEA operatives, assisted by the Nigerian Army, destroyed 12.5 tonnes of cannabis on a farmland in Umuchime community, Ndokwa West LGA, and recovered 53.22kgs of processed weeds and seeds. A suspect named Christopher Anim (alias Ogidi) was also arrested during the operation.
Lastly, in Kano, two suspects, Amarachukwu Eugene and Abdulaziz Auwal, were arrested with 202 blocks of cannabis weighing 113.1kgs.
