From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended Ndubuisi Udatu, a 41-year-old ex-convict also known as Richard, with 2.7 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in two large music speakers.
The arrest occurred on Monday, April 7, at an NDLEA checkpoint in Namtari along the Ngurore-Yola road, Adamawa State. Udatu, a returnee from Malaysia, was caught on a commercial bus with the drugs intended for distribution in Yola, Mubi, and across the Cameroon border.
“In his statement, he claimed he returned to Nigeria to continue his illicit drug trade after serving out his jail term in Malaysia, where he had been arrested, convicted and sent to prison for drug trafficking offences,” the NDLEA reported. Alongside the drugs, ₦22,300 was recovered.
In a separate operation at the Nigeria-Cameroon border in Mfum, Cross River State, NDLEA officers, alongside Customs personnel, arrested 35-year-old Odoh Peter Ikechukwu with 8,740 ampoules of assorted opioids weighing 395 kilograms. These included 1,080 ampoules of fentanyl injection, 2,160 ampoules of morphine sulphate injection, 3,010 ampoules of phenobarbital sulphate injection, 2,160 ampoules of pethidine injection, and 330 ampoules of midazolam injection.
In Kano, on Friday, April 11, NDLEA operatives arrested 27-year-old Aliyu Ibrahim with 25,600 tramadol pills (225mg and 250mg) and 20 ATM cards in the Bachirawa area. That same day, a follow-up operation in Gwagwalada, FCT Abuja, led to the arrest of 48-year-old Gambo Lawan after 8,960 tramadol pills were seized along the Gwagwalada expressway on 7 April. In Niger State, 58-year-old Ademiluyi Adedapo Collins was apprehended with 124 kilograms of skunk, a cannabis strain, hidden in 11 jumbo bags inside a Lexus car (KTU 54 CU) along the Mokwa-Jebba road on 11 April.
The NDLEA also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, conducting sensitisation lectures at institutions like New Era Secondary School, Nteje, Anambra; Promise Land College, Ikotun Egbe, Lagos; Cherryfield College, Jikwoyi, FCT; Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, Ogbomoso, Oyo; and Nurul Faruq Islamic Academy, Gombi, Adamawa. The Kwara State Command visited Oba Joel Olaniyi Oyatoye Titiloye Olufayo II, Oloro of Oro kingdom, to promote the initiative.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd) praised the Adamawa, Cross River, FCT, Kano, and Niger State Commands, urging all officers to intensify efforts against drug cartels while advancing drug demand reduction. “While commending the efforts of the officers and men… for job well done, [he] tasked them and their compatriots nationwide not to rest on their oars but continue to raise the bar,” the agency stated.