The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a Qatar-based businessman, Agu Evidence Amobi, along with another individual, Uchegbu Onyebuchi Obi, for carrying shipments of psychoactive substances at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
On Sunday, Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media & Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters, revealed that Agu Evidence Amobi was apprehended on Saturday at the departure point of Terminal 2 of the MMIA. He was en route to Doha on a Qatar Airways flight. On the same day, Uchegbu Onyebuchi Obi was taken into custody after the interception of a consignment containing 72,000 pills of tramadol 225mg. Obi had attempted to ship the pills to Kano on a local flight.
Amobi, who claimed to have been residing and working in Doha, Qatar, for over 10 years, was found with 1.30kg of cannabis sativa concealed in a bag of foodstuff.
He asserted that he purchased the substance in Enugu with the intention of delivering it to Doha to raise sufficient funds for covering his rent in both Doha and Nigeria, as well as the school fees for his three children.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives at the domestic wing of the airport seized a carton containing a total of 72,000 pills of tramadol 250mg, with a gross weight of 38.50kg. Subsequently, Uchegbu Onyebuchi Obi was arrested for bringing the consignment to the airport for shipment to Kano.
On Christmas day, December 25th, in Yobe state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Nguru-Gashua road intercepted Musa Sani, Mohammed Ibrahim, and Adamu Usman in a truck transporting 39 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 15.7kg and 128,500 pills of opioids.
The enforcement agency also disclosed that subsequent follow-up operations on the following day, December 26th, led to the arrest of the actual owner of the cannabis consignment, Ali Ibrahim (a.k.a Ramos), in Geidam. An additional 208 blocks of the same substance were recovered from his house, bringing the total to 247 blocks weighing 94.74kg. The owner of the seized opioids, Mustapha Goni (a.k.a Lolo), was equally apprehended.
In Imo state, the agency’s operatives on Christmas Eve, while on patrol along Owerri – Onitsha expressway, intercepted a commercial bus driven by Peter Orji, 42, containing 400 bottles of codeine syrup and 7,590 pills of opioids, including tramadol 225mg, heading to Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
David Michael, 52, was arrested at Unguwa Ukku area of Kano on Sunday, December 24th, with 49 blocks of cannabis weighing 42.6kg, and Umar Abdullahi, 27, was nabbed with 27,350 pills of opioids at Gadar Tamburawa area of the city on the same day.
While commending the efforts of the officers and men of MMIA, Yobe, Kano, Kwara, and Imo Commands of the Agency for their exemplary work in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), urged them and their compatriots nationwide not to rest on the achievements of 2023. He encouraged them to continue raising the bar in their offensive action against drug barons and cartels, with an emphasis on intense WADA advocacy campaigns in the new year. He extended wishes for a rewarding and fulfilling new year to all officers and men, as well as their families, stakeholders, and the general public.