The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an 80-year-old ex-convict, Jeremiah Isaiah Nkanta, for returning to the illicit drug trade barely three years after serving a jail term for a similar offence, as the agency intensified nationwide raids that led to the recovery of large quantities of illicit drugs across several states.
According to the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, the agency described Nkanta as a notorious drug dealer, who was first arrested on December 14, 2022, prosecuted, and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. However, following credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives tracked and arrested him again on Saturday, January 10, 2025, at his residence in Mmanta–Abak village, Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, where 5.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, were recovered.
In another operation in Akwa Ibom State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Oron–Ibaka Road in Oron Local Government Area intercepted a 37-year-old businessman, Ani Onyebuchi Romans, on Friday, January 9, while travelling with full-body mannequins for his clothing business in Cameroon. A search revealed that the mannequins were stuffed with tramadol pills weighing 5.3 kilograms.
The suspect, who claimed to reside in Cameroon, reportedly bought the drugs in Onitsha, Anambra State, and was trafficking them to Cameroon for sale after concealing the opioids inside two mannequins.
In Oyo State, coordinated raids led to the arrest of several suspected drug dealers and the seizure of assorted illicit drugs. Among those arrested was 45-year-old Remi Bamidele, also known as “Aluko the Mafia,” at Sasa area of Ibadan, where 10.696 kilograms of Colorado, Scottish Loud, Ghana Loud, Canadian Loud, and skunk were recovered. Two vehicles—a Toyota Venza and a Toyota Yaris with registration number HG 06 LYD—were also seized from him during his arrest on Thursday, January 8.
Also in Ibadan, NDLEA officers arrested Adeola Toheeb, 27, at Adegbayi area with various quantities of Colorado, Ghana Loud, and skunk on Friday, January 9. Another suspect, Habeeb Ali, 29, was nabbed at Ring Road with 1.264 kilograms of Colorado, Scottish Loud, and skunk, alongside a cash exhibit of ₦1,307,100 recovered at the point of his arrest on Saturday, January 10.
In Edo State, a dispatch rider, Osagbovo Edigin, 30, alongside two other suspects, Ebimi Labo, 28, and Akhimie Success, 25, were arrested on Friday, January 9, at Ihama/Airport Road GRA, Benin City, in connection with the seizure of 118 grams of Canadian Loud and a wrap of Colorado. Another suspect, Jimoh Agbonmhegbe, 49, was arrested at Irrua with 17.552 kilograms of Colorado, Loud, and skunk, while Evelyn Okoyomon, 38, was nabbed at Ubiaja with 930 grams of skunk on Wednesday, January 7.
In Niger State, NDLEA operatives recovered 4,000 pills of tramadol (225mg) from a suspect, Nazifi Umar, 22, at Dakwa town in Tafa Local Government Area.
Similarly, Yusuf Usman, 41, was arrested with 100 blocks of skunk weighing 47 kilograms at Lankaviri in Yorro Local Government Area of Taraba State on Wednesday, January 7.
In Adamawa State, operatives recovered 30,950 capsules of tramadol from the residence of a suspect, Ugwoke Chibueze, 40, in Bachure area of Yola South Local Government Area, following his arrest at the Lamido Aliyu Mustapha International Airport, Yola, on Tuesday, January 6.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands and formations across the country sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities. Recent outreach programmes included lectures at Government Day Science and Technical College, Babura, Jigawa State; Abiayubal Ansari Islamiyya School, Fagge Local Government Area, Kano State; and engagement with youths of Oshituma Umuogudu Akpu Ngbo in Ebonyi State.
Commending the officers and men of the Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Taraba, Edo, Oyo, and Niger commands for their arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said the operational successes reflected the agency’s balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction nationwide.
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