Follow Us on Google
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A notorious wanted drug kingpin who brutally killed three officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Lekan Jimoh, popularly known as “Kanmo-kanmo”, has been arrested after a 12-year manhunt by operatives of the agency.
Kanmo-kanmo, who has been evading arrest and mobilising armed thugs against security agents, was on Friday, 16 January 2026, tracked to his hideout in Owode town, Ogun State, by tactical teams of the agency following credible intelligence.
A statement by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that during the clinical operation, the suspect was found in possession of 69 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
The arrest marks a significant breakthrough in the agency’s commitment to ensuring that no fugitive, regardless of how long they evade justice, remains beyond the reach of the law.
Lekan Jimoh’s criminal history is marked by extreme violence and lawlessness. On 15 June 2014, he allegedly orchestrated a barbaric mob action against a team of NDLEA officers who had attempted to arrest him at his enclave.
The attack resulted in the cold-blooded murder of three NDLEA officers, including Rabiu Usman Kazaure and two others, who were killed by armed thugs reportedly mobilised by Jimoh.
While the suspect managed to escape the scene that day, the agency remained resolute in its pursuit of justice for the fallen heroes.
In another encounter with Jimoh on 12 August 2023, when NDLEA operatives stormed his residence in Ado-Odo town, Ogun State, he again managed to escape, while operatives succeeded in recovering 139 sacks of skunk with a total weight of 1,922 kilograms. Following assets forfeiture proceedings instituted in court by the agency, the house in Ado-Odo, which served as a warehouse for his illicit drug trade, has since been finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Edo State on Tuesday, 13 January, raided the Arokpa forest, Uzebba town, Owan West LGA, leading to the arrest of another drug lord, Isihor Edika, 53, and the seizure of 320kg of skunk and seeds.
In the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, operatives on Friday, 16 January, tracked and arrested a 44-year-old lady, Yinka Agboola, following intelligence on her online sale of illicit substances.
At the time of her arrest, 2.2kg of skunk and litres of cannabis oil, which she produces in her kitchen and sells through online advertisements, were recovered from her home at the Kaura district, Abuja.
Another suspect, Tordue Pius Richard, 30, was on Tuesday, 13 January, arrested with 148.3 grams of cocaine and skunk at his home at 12 Biskira Street, Abacha Estate, Abuja.
Other News
While 118.1kg of skunk was seized from the duo of Dauda Kareem and Saheed Obisesan at Fadeyi area of Mushin, Lagos, on Friday, 16 January, no fewer than 116kg of the same substance was recovered from a warehouse at New Market area of Enugu, Enugu State, the same day.
Two suspects, Zaharadeen Yahaya, 25, and Sanusi Maman, 23, were on Thursday, 15 January, arrested by NDLEA operatives along the Onitsha–Asaba Expressway, Delta State, while conveying 410,800 pills of tramadol; 84.2 litres of codeine syrup; 82,250 tablets of diazepam; 900 tablets of swinol; and 65 pills of Molly.
In Oyo State, Adetunji Ahmed Abayomi, 33, was nabbed on Thursday, 15 January, at Moniya, Ibadan, with 321 litres of skuchies and 2.5kg of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, while Rasheed Ajao, 28, was caught the same day at Odo-Ona, Ibadan, in possession of 5.4kg of Scottish Loud; 1.696kg of skunk; and 2.5kg of Colorado, bringing the total weight to 9.696 kilograms.
In another raid at Agbeni area of the state capital, 52,430 pills of tramadol and bromazepam were recovered from the store of Orji Edwin, currently at large, on Saturday, 17 January.
In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, 13 January, raided a residential building at Gamo area of Ilorin, where they seized 42 bags of skunk that weighed 387.40kg, while a total of 157,519 bottles of codeine syrup were discovered in a container at the Apapa Port in Lagos during a joint examination of the shipment by NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies on Friday, 16 January.
An ex-convict, Gaddafi Ammani, 26, was arrested with various quantities of skunk and exol-5 pills alongside his accomplice, Ahmed Sani, 32, at Nassarawa GRA, Ringim LGA, Jigawa State, on Saturday, 17 January.
Before Gaddafi’s arrest, he attempted to flee by climbing the roofs of many houses in his bid to escape. He was armed with a machete, which he used to threaten NDLEA operatives and even inflicted injury on one of the officers.
Across all commands and formations of the agency nationwide, NDLEA officers continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities in the past week.
These include WADA enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Umar Bin Khathab Islamiyyah School, Kurna, Kano; Tumbey College, Kajola Maya, Ikorodu, Lagos; Anglican Secondary School, Makurdi, Benue; members of Katsina Emirate, Katsina; and residents of Maitumbi community, Minna, Niger State, among others.
While commending the officers and men of the Ogun, Lagos, Apapa, Edo, Delta, Oyo, FCT, Enugu and Kwara Commands for the arrests and seizures, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig-Gen Mohamed Marwa (rtd), acknowledged their commitment and enjoined them, as well as their colleagues nationwide, to maintain the current tempo of their balanced approach to the agency’s drug control efforts.
He described the arrest of Kanmo-kanmo as a triumph of justice and a testament to the agency’s long memory, adding that the arrest sends a clear and unambiguous message to all drug barons and fugitives: “You may run, and you may hide for a season, but the long arm of the law will eventually find you.”
“The arrest of Lekan Jimoh is particularly significant because it closes a painful chapter that began on June 15, 2014. For twelve years, this individual lived with the blood of our gallant officers—Rabiu Usman Kazaure and two others—on his hands. He mistakenly thought that time had erased his crimes. Today, we have proven that the NDLEA does not forget its own. We do not forget the sacrifices of those who laid down their lives in the service of our fatherland. This arrest is for the families of those three officers who have waited 12 years for justice,” Marwa said in a tribute to the officers lost over a decade ago.
