Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a former Lagos councillor and intercepted several illicit drug consignments across multiple states as part of intensified operations against trafficking.
The NDLEA disclosed the suspect, 45-year-old Sheleru Sadiq Olalekan, was arrested at his residence in Ilado, in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.
Olalekan previously served two terms as councillor representing the Orimedu community at the Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Council and is currently a legislative aide.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, officers acting on intelligence raided the residence and discovered 40 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, stored in one of the rooms.
During questioning, Olalekan reportedly admitted ownership of the drugs and the property where they were found.
In a separate operation in Abuja, officers intercepted a 32-year-old businessman, Emeka Hyginus Okwor, travelling from Obollo-Afor in Enugu State to Zuba in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A search of his luggage uncovered 1,000 pills of tapentadol concealed inside baby diapers.
Investigators stated that Okwor confessed that he was transporting the drugs to Guduwa village in Gurara Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, where he operates a provision store.
Another interception occurred along the Kabba–Obajana highway in Kogi State, where operatives seized 1.55 kilograms of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, hidden inside a carton containing a standing fan.
The drugs were traced to a 36-year-old Cameroonian national, Mey Ali Muhamat, from Maroua in the Cameroon who was travelling in a commercial bus from Lagos to Cameroon via Lokoja, Kano and Maiduguri.
In another operation along the Mokwa–Jebba road in Niger State, NDLEA officers stopped a commercial bus coming from Ibadan in Oyo State and discovered 500 pieces of improvised explosive device components concealed in a sack destined for a recipient in Pelegi.
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A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the intended recipient, 21-year-old Osama Abdullahi, in Mashegu Local Government Area (LGA).
Elsewhere, officers in Yola, Adamawa State uncovered 122,000 pills of tramadol and 700 grams of methamphetamine hidden in a false compartment of a truck carrying 2,000 cartons of locally produced drinks.
Additional arrests were recorded in several states. In Kano State, a 20-year-old suspect, Muhammed Ali, was apprehended with 11,283 pills of tramadol. In Ogun State, operatives raided the Ogere community and arrested Nazifi Mudansir and Kabiru Musa with 46 kilograms of skunk.
In Delta State, two suspects, Joy Chukwuma, 25, and Eugene Felix, 22, were arrested in Ogwashi-Uku with 18.63 kilograms of skunk, 10.8 litres of codeine-based syrup and 4,268 pills of tramadol and swinol.
Meanwhile, in Edo State, officers arrested 48-year-old Eke London and Austin Isusi, 49, in Egbisi Forest in Uhumwonde Local Government Area (LGA), where 1,910.25 kilograms of skunk cultivated on two farms were destroyed.
Another suspect, Alaba Adeboye, 47, was also apprehended in Ikhin town in Owan East Local Government Area (LGA) with 176.5 kilograms of the substance.
Beyond enforcement, the agency stressed it had continued its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse campaign through public awareness programmes in schools, workplaces and communities across the country.
Recent sensitisation activities were held in schools in Oyo, Niger, Zamfara, Lagos, Sokoto, Ebonyi and Anambra states.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers across the Lagos, FCT, Kano, Niger, Kogi, Edo, Ogun, Delta and Adamawa commands for their efforts.
Marwa charged personnel to sustain the agency’s strategy of combining enforcement operations with prevention and public education.