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Destroys 178,750kg in Taraba forest
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A 75-year-old man, Uchelue Ikechukwu, has been arrested with illicit substances in a raid by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) alongside five suspects in parts of Anambra State.
In another successful operation, 30-year-old Alfa Andrew was taken into custody following the destruction of 178,750 kilograms of skunk on his 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in Mayodoga forest, Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State.
A statement by the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, explained that Uchelue was nabbed at Umudioka, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra with 26.7kg of skunk on Thursday, August 28, 2025. Five other suspects—Eneh Makuo, Emmanuel Chiemeli, Uwakwe Matthew, Chukwujekwu Ehirim, Ifeanyichukwu Olisa, and Odoh Chukwuma—were arrested with various quantities of opioids and skunk at Nkwelle and Amichi areas of the state.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives, supported by the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Forest Security Service, Mambila Youth Vanguard, and Vigilante, arrested Alfa Andrew with a Dane gun on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, at his 71.5-hectare cannabis farm in Mayodoga forest, Mayosabere ward, Sardauna LGA, Taraba State, where they destroyed 178,750 kilograms of skunk.
No fewer than 104,900 capsules of tramadol, concealed in the driver’s compartment of a fuel tanker suspected to be destined for insurgents in parts of Borno State, were intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate in Kaduna on Friday, August 29, 2025, with suspect Hassan Buba taken into custody.
Another suspect, Kabir Sulaiman, 45, was arrested with 34.150kg of skunk at Gwargwaje-Zaria checkpoint on Saturday, August 30, 2025. In Borno State, NDLEA operatives arrested a major supplier of illicit opioids, 33-year-old Uchenna Umeh, on Saturday, August 30, 2025, shortly after he received supplies from Onitsha, Anambra State. Recovered from his apartment in Chescon, Pompomary area of Maiduguri were 30,640 pills of tramadol 225mg, 7,940 tablets of rohypnol, and ₦7,999,200 in N200 new notes.
In Nasarawa State, NDLEA operatives arrested Abubakar Dauda, 36, with 79,040 pills of tramadol and diazepam at Abacha Park, Mararaba Karu on Thursday, August 28, 2025. This followed the arrest of Babangida Tungura, 47, in Lafia, with 30,410 pills of tramadol and rohypnol, as well as 38 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup concealed in a deep freezer from Asaba, Delta State, on Tuesday, August 26, 2025.
In Adamawa State, 23-year-old Mohammed Ali was arrested on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, in a follow-up operation at Ngorore, after NDLEA intercepted 15,000 capsules of tramadol concealed in sacks of animal feed at the Gombe mega park. In Kano, Ashiru Garba, 20, and Aminu Abdu, 22, were arrested on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, along Kano-Hadejia road with 1.5kg skunk and 25,000 pills of exol-5. Two other suspects, Ali Muhammad, 37, and Muhammad Maishanu, 42, were nabbed on Thursday, August 28, 2025, along Zaria-Kano road, Gadan Tamburawa, with 8,080 bottles of a new psychoactive substance and 25.7kg skunk. Additionally, 250,000 tablets of exol-5 were seized from Alhasaan Musa, 25, in Zango area, Ungogo LGA, Kano, on Saturday, August 30, 2025.
In Yola, Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives arrested Hamisu Abdullahi on Monday, August 25, 2025, after intercepting a golf saloon car (GME 253 HP) driven by Sani Suleiman, coming from Gombe State, loaded with sacks of pepper concealing 79 blocks of skunk weighing 58kg. In Edo State, 64,250 pills of opioids, mainly tramadol, were intercepted on a commercial bus from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Okene, Kogi State, along Ewu-Auchi road, Etsako West LGA, with Mohammed Halidu, 36, arrested.
In Ondo State, Elves Odogwu, 45, and David Jeremiah, 35, were arrested on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, when NDLEA operatives raided Queen Elizabeth, Aponmun Reserved Camp, recovering 117.5kg of processed cannabis and seeds. In Lagos, 164 kilograms of skunk were recovered from the base of Michael Ayodele in Mushin on Saturday, August 30, 2025. In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives raided Nova Street, behind New Creation School, Ado-Ekiti, on Friday, August 29, 2025, seizing 5.3 kilograms of Loud and Colorado, as well as 2.5 grams of methamphetamine from 42-year-old Ajayi Ayodeji Idowu (a.k.a. Atiku).
NDLEA Commands continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation lectures and advocacy visits across the country, including to secondary school students at Ezechima Primary School, Onitsha, Anambra State; youths of Anglican Church Diocese, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; and traditional rulers and community leaders in Lagos and Ogun States.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers of Anambra, Taraba, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo, and Edo Commands for their arrests and seizures, applauding their efforts in balancing drug supply and demand reduction initiatives.
