Nicholas Kalu, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested a 28-year old woman, Bilkisu Suleman, who supplies ammunition to bandits.
Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters Abuja, Femi Babafemi, in a statement yesterday said Suleman came top on the list of 12 other suspects arrested by NDLEA operatives in interdiction operations in Kaduna, Lagos, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Borno, and Osun states.
He said Bilkisu was arrested on January 3 by NDLEA officers on patrol along Zaria-Kano expressway in possession of 249 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition concealed in a black nylon bag kept in her handbag.
The statement said: “She was on her way to deliver the ammunition to an identified bandit at Kakumi village, Katsina State when she was nabbed after which she was transferred to the Kaduna State Command of the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
Read Also: Mefi’s 593 bank accounts
“Military authorities at the Bonny camp cantonment in Lagos on January 2 transferred a suspect, Francis Suru, 37 and 63 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 2,104.2 kilogrammes and a truck to the Lagos State Command of NDLEA.
“The suspect and the drug exhibits were earlier intercepted by NDLEA officers on December 12, 2023 close to the gate of the military cantonment in Bonny Camp, Victoria Island. Some armed escorts, however, resorted to sporadic shooting to obstruct the operation, a development which attracted soldiers from the cantonment, who eventually intervened and took custody of the consignment and suspect before transferring them to the agency.”
Babafemi also said at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos on New Year Day, January 1, NDLEA operatives intercepted a consignment of Colorado, a very strong strain of cannabis, concealed in boxing kits imported from the United States of America.
He said a week-long intelligence-led operation to get the receiver arrested was consummated on January 6, following the successful tracking and arrest of 38-year-old Olorunfunmi Saheed Olakunle, who distributes the dangerous psychoactive substance to dealers across Lagos State.
The consignment reportedly arrived the country on January 1 via Cairo on Egypt Airlines flight marked as boxing kits.
Babafemi quoted Saheed as saying that he delivers such consignments to recipients whenever his childhood friend, US-based Sagir Salami, sends them.
He said the latest shipment had a total weight of 1.80 kilogrammes.
Babafemi said NDLEA operatives in Niger State on January 5 during a stop and search operation along Suleja-Kaduna road intercepted a J5 bus coming from Ondo State, heading for Zaria in Kaduna State with 23 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg.
He said two suspects: Umar Musa, 26 and Isachiru Abubakar were arrested in connection with the seizure.
He said while a female drug trafficker, Queen Onyema, 27, was arrested on January 6 in a commercial bus en route to Abuja along Okene-Lokoja expressway with 12 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 4.6kg and 0.046kg designer drugs concealed in a noodles carton, another suspect, Mubarak Sani, 20, was nabbed at Gadar Tamburawa area of Kano on January 1 with 445.9k kilogrammes of the same psychoactive substance.
“In Borno, four suspects: Zanna Alhaji Dala, 32; Musa Umar, 21; Mushe Ibrahim, 23 and Shehu Idris, 19, were arrested at Pomfomari by pass area of the state with 60kg of cannabis.
Also, in Osun, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Osogbo-Ode Omu road on January 1 intercepted a consignment of illicit drugs sent through waybill from Lagos to Osogbo. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Ibrahim Olawale, 43. The drugs recovered include: cannabis sativa 10.8kg; Loud 150grams; Colorado 19grams; Molly 5grams totalling 10.974kg. A digital scale, N18,000 monetary exhibit and customised wrapping papers for Colorado were also seized.
“NDLEA commands across the 36 states and the FCT equally continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), sensitisation lectures in schools, communities, work places and others. Some of these include: WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Nurul Huda Community Islamiyya School, Farin Yaro, Katsina; members of first aid group of Jamaatul Izalatul Bidi’a Waiqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS) at Ajilari Community School, Gomari, Maiduguri, Borno; WADA sensitisation lecture at the 2024 Oke Afo youth day, Olorunda LCDA Lagos and WADA advocacy visit to the Emir of Gaya, Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Gaya by the Kano State Command of the agency.
“Commending the arrests and seizures of the past week by officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Borno and Osun commands, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), urged them and their colleagues across all formations of the agency to continue to remain vigilant and double their drug demand reduction as well as drug supply reduction efforts in the new year,” the statement said.
No comments:
Post a Comment