Drug kingpin ‘Kanmo-Kanmo’ arrested 12 years after killing three NDLEA officers
Photo of Fateema B. Bello Fateema B. Bello Send an emailJanuary 18, 20260 4 minutes read
Agency recovers illicit drugs from his hideout, nabs ex-convict, female online vendor, others in Jigawa, Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Delta, Oyo, FCT, Enugu, Kwara raids
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have successfully apprehended a long-wanted drug kingpin, Lekan Jimoh, popularly known as “Kanmo-kanmo”, ending a 12-year manhunt following his involvement in the brutal killing of three NDLEA officers.
Kanmo-Kanmo, who is notorious for drug trafficking, evading arrest and mobilizing armed thugs against security agents was on Friday 16th January 2026 tracked to his hideout in Owode town, Ogun State by tactical teams of the Agency following credible intelligence.
During the clinical operation, the suspect was found in possession of 69 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
The arrest marks a significant breakthrough in the Agency’s commitment to ensuring that no fugitive, regardless of how long they evade justice, remains beyond the reach of the law.
Lekan Jimoh’s criminal history is marked by extreme violence and lawlessness. As a result, he had on 15th June 2014 orchestrated a barbaric mob action against a team of NDLEA officers who had attempted to arrest him at his enclave.
The attack resulted in the cold-blooded murder of three NDLEA officers, including Rabiu Usman Kazaure and two others, who were killed by armed thugs mobilized by Jimoh.
While the suspect managed to escape the scene that day, the Agency remained resolute in its pursuit of justice for the fallen heroes.
In another encounter with Jimoh on 12th August 2023, when NDLEA operatives stormed his residence in Ado-Odo town, Ogun state, he managed to escape while operatives succeeded in recovering 139 sacks of skunk with a total weight of 1,922 kilograms.
Following assets forfeiture proceedings instituted in court by the Agency, the house in Ado-Odo, which served as a warehouse for his illicit drug trade, has since been finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Edo state on Tuesday 13th January raided the Arokpa forest, Uzebba town, Owan West LGA, leading to the arrest of another drug lord, Isihor Edika, 53, and seizure of 320kg skunk and seeds.
In the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, operatives on Friday 16th January tracked and arrested a 44-year-old lady Yinka Agboola following intelligence on her online sale of illicit substances.
At the time of her arrest, 2.2kg skunk and litres of cannabis oil which she produces in her kitchen and sells through online advertisement were recovered from her home at the Kaura district, Abuja.
Another suspect, Tordue Pius Richard, 30, was on Tuesday 13th January arrested with 148.3 grams of cocaine and skunk at his 12 Biskira street, Abacha Estate, Abuja home.
While 118.1kg skunk was seized from the duo of Dauda Kareem and Saheed Obisesan at Fadeyi area of Mushin Lagos on Friday 16th January, not less than 116kg of same substance was recovered from a warehouse at new market area of Enugu, Enugu state same day.
Two suspects: Zaharadeen Yahaya, 25, and Sanusi Maman, 23, were on Thursday 15th January arrested by NDLEA operatives along Onitsha -Asaba expressway, Delta state, while conveying 410,800 pills of tramadol; 84.2 litres of codeine syrup; 82,250 tablets of diazepam; 900 tabs of swinol and 65 pills of Molly.
In Oyo state, Adetunji Ahmed Abayomi, 33, was nabbed on Thursday 15th January at Moniya, Ibadan, with 321 litres of skuchies, and 2.5kg Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, while Rasheed Ajao, 28, was caught same day at Odo-Ona, Ibadan, in possession of 5.4kg Scottish Loud; 1.696kg skunk and 2.5kg Colorado, bringing the total weight to 9.696 kilograms.
In another raid at Agbeni area of the state capital, 52,430 pills of tramadol and bromazepam were recovered from the store of Orji Edwin, currently at large, on Saturday 17th January.
In Kwara state, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 13th January raided a residential building at Gamo area of Ilorin where they seized 42 bags of skunk that weighed 387.40kg, while a total of 157,519 bottles of codeine syrup were discovered in a container at the Apapa port in Lagos during a joint examination of the shipment by NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies on Friday 16th January.
An ex-convict, Gaddafi Ammani, 26, was arrested with various quantities of skunk and exol-5 pills along his accomplice Ahmed Sani, 32, at Nassarawa GRA, Ringim LGA Jigawa state on Saturday 17th January.
Before Gaddafi’s arrest, he attempted to escape by climbing the roofs of many houses in his bid to escape. He was armed with a machete which he used to threaten NDLEA operatives and even inflicted injury on one of the officers.
Across all Commands and formations of the Agency nationwide, NDLEA officers continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Umar Bin Khathab Islamiyyah School, Kurna, Kano; Tumbey College, Kajola Maya, Ikorodu, Lagos; Anglican Secondary School, Makurdi, Benue; members of Katsina emirate, Katsina; and residents of Maitumbi community, Minna, Niger state, among others.
While commending the officers and men of the Ogun, Lagos, Apapa, Edo, Delta, Oyo, FCT, Enugu, and Kwara Commands for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) acknowledged their commitment and enjoined them as well as their colleagues nationwide to maintain the current tempo of their balanced approach to the Agency’s drug control efforts.
He described the arrest of Kanmo-kanmo as a triumph of justice and a testament to the Agency’s long memory, adding that the arrest sends a clear and unambiguous message to all drug barons and fugitives: “You may run, and you may hide for a season, but the long arm of the law will eventually find you.”
“The arrest of Lekan Jimoh is particularly significant because it closes a painful chapter that began on June 15, 2014. For twelve years, this individual lived with the blood of our gallant officers—Rabiu Usman Kazaure and two others—on his hands.
He mistakenly thought that time had erased his crimes. Today, we have proven that the NDLEA does not forget its own. We do not forget the sacrifices of those who laid down their lives in the service of our fatherland. This arrest is for the families of those three officers who have waited 12 years for justice”, Marwa said in a tribute to the officers lost over a decade ago.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
Sunday 18th January 2026
A Magistrate Court sitting at Nomansland in Fagge Local Government Area of Kano State has ordered the remand of a driver and two others over the alleged theft of jewellery, cash, and a mobile phone belonging to the wife of the 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.
The defendants, Sulaiman Yakubu Kulkude, Idris Musa, and Abdullahi Usaini, were arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, theft and receiving stolen property.
Prosecuting counsel, Barrister Abubakar Ibrahim, told the court that Sulaiman Yakubu, who serves as the driver of the Emir’s wife, unlawfully entered her room and made away with jewellery reportedly valued at N60 million, alongside cash and a mobile phone.
When the charges were read, Sulaiman pleaded guilty to all counts, while the two other defendants pleaded not guilty.
Counsel to the defendants, Barrister A.A. Abdullahi, filed a bail application.
In his ruling, the presiding Magistrate, Halilu Abdurahman, granted bail to the defendants with conditions, including the provision of a surety who must be either a father or brother, a civil servant not below Grade Level 15, and a bail sum of N10 million each.
The case was adjourned to April 14 for further hearing, while the defendants were remanded pending the fulfilment of their bail conditions.
Two adult males have been killed in separate suspected cult-related attacks in Lagos and Ogun States.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the first incident occurred on Saturday around the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, in Yaba, while the second took place in the Magboro area of Ogun State.
The victim in the Akoka incident was reportedly hacked to death after being attacked by about six suspected cultists.
A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak for the command, described the attack on Tuesday as a suspected reprisal.
“The victim was accosted along the axis leading to the school gate, and what started as a confrontation led to a fight. He was stabbed in the head in the process. It was later discovered that the assailants were suspected cultists,” the source said.
In a video seen by PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, the deceased’s body was lying by the roadside.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Adebisi, confirmed the incident, adding that one suspect had been arrested.
“One suspect has been arrested in connection with the incident. Investigation is ongoing,” she said.
In Magboro, PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim in the Gas Line area was a suspected Eiye cult member identified as Cegaga.
According to insiders, he was stabbed to death during a clash involving rival cult groups in the community.
The incident, our correspondents gathered, occurred on Saturday around 11pm, following a disagreement between the deceased and a suspected Buccaneer member identified as Corner over money issues.
A suspected Vikings member, identified as Troup, who was reportedly at the scene, allegedly took sides in the dispute and stabbed the victim.
Residents said the victim’s body was discovered the following morning.
A resident who requested anonymity for security reasons said, “I didn’t witness the clash. I only came back to see that someone had been killed.”
Also speaking, a trader who asked not to be named said, “We had closed for the day.” It happened at midnight, and we only saw the body when we resumed work the next morning.”
It was gathered that tension had heightened in the community due to recurring cult-related violence in recent weeks.
Another resident, who identified himself as Suleiman, told PUNCH Metro on Tuesday that such incidents had become frequent.
He said, “We have been experiencing a series of cult attacks in the area over the past few weeks. The one that happened on Saturday is just one of many incidents.
“We rarely experience situations like this, but it is now becoming regular. We need the intervention of the authorities before it escalates.”
The Ogun State Police Command spokesperson, Oluseyi Babaseyi, could not be reached for comment, as calls to his telephone lines went unanswered.
A text message sent to him had not been replied to at the time of filing this report.
PUNCH Metro had reported on March 3 that two suspected cultists, identified as Monday and Efe, were shot dead in a fresh wave of cult-related violence in the Ojo area of Lagos State.
The operation, disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, followed intelligence on trans-border criminal activities.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a large shipment of cocaine hidden inside the heads of imported dry stockfish and arrested a key member of the syndicate linked to trafficking the drugs abroad.
The operation, disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, followed intelligence on trans-border criminal activities.
Babafemi said the intelligence led to a sting operation by operatives of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Strategic Command of the Agency at the Ojo area of Lagos on Thursday, March 19, 2026.
“In the course of the operation, three jumbo size bags were found in possession of the kingpin 36-year-old Akputa Dickson Ejike.
“A search of the bags led to the recovery of Two Hundred and Thirty-Seven (237) wraps of cocaine buried in the heads of imported dry stock fish locally known as ‘Okporoko.’
“The cocaine pellets have a gross weight of 5.80 kilograms. The consignment was intended for export to Delhi, India,” the statement read.
In a separate operation on Wednesday, March 25, NDLEA operatives from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) intercepted two consignments bound for the United Kingdom at a courier company in Lagos.
“In one of the shipments that originated from Cotonou, Benin Republic, 1.9 kilograms of methamphetamine were found concealed in automobile filters while the second parcel contains 40 ampoules of Morphine Sulphate and nine ampoules of Fentanyl.”
Babafemi added that on March 26, a Special Operations Unit (SOU) raided the home of 46-year-old Omolade Abigail Jolayemi, known as “Iya Ghana,” at 13 Carter Street, Yaba, Lagos.
She and her associate, 31-year-old Sarah Zainab Agbabiaka, were arrested after operatives recovered 135 blocks of cannabis weighing 76.30 kilograms.
“Same day, the SOU operatives also arrested Anayo Lucky Ohabiro, 39, at Doyin bus stop, Surulere, Lagos following credible intelligence. A total of 78 blocks of Ghana Loud weighing 41kg were seized from him.”
In Ekiti State, the statement added that “an 80-year-old grandpa, Oke Samuel, was on Thursday 26th March arrested by NDLEA operatives during a special raid operation at Mosafuneto camp, Erinmo road, Efon-Alaaye Ekiti. A total of 2.2kg skunk and 1.8grams of methamphetamine were recovered from him.”
Another suspect, 37-year-old Enuwa Kehinde Kingsley, had 894.72 kilograms of skunk seized from an uncompleted building in Ogbese, Akure North, Ondo State.
Elsewhere, 35-year-old Saater Nyam was apprehended at Pevi village, Guma LGA, Benue State, with 116.7 kilograms of skunk on Tuesday, March 24.
In Edo State, a warehouse raid in Ekpoma town, Esan West LGA, on Monday, March 23, led to the arrest of 25-year-old Felix Donald and the seizure of 576.5 kilograms of skunk and 33 bottles of codeine-based syrup.
In Taraba State, Babafemi said NDLEA officers intercepted a truck carrying 100 blocks of compressed skunk weighing 135 kilograms concealed in animal feed bags from Garbachede to Gombe State on Tuesday, March 24.
Two suspects, 21-year-old Osama Mamuda and 22-year-old Auwal Umar, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
Babafemi noted that the agency has also continued its War Against Drug Abuse social advocacy, conducting sensitisation lectures in schools across Cross River, Adamawa, Oyo, Kano, and Lagos states.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), commended operatives from MMIA, SOU, DOGI, Ekiti, Ondo, Benue, Edo, and Taraba Commands for their efforts and praised all commands nationwide for balancing drug supply reduction with drug demand reduction initiatives.
