Crime
PHOTOS: Wanted drug kingpin arrested 12 years after killing three NDLEA officers
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
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Crime
PHOTOS: Alleged 184.5kg cocaine bust: NDLEA arraigns KC Luxury, 2 accomplices, remanded in custody
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) today arraigned Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as KC Luxury, and two other accomplices, Boniface Freeman Ochoche Sule and Ikechukwu Ekugo Patriarch, before Hon. Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on a 22-count charge bordering on cocaine trafficking, illegal export of narcotics, and money laundering.
The defendants, who were accused of conspiring between 28th July and 1st August 2026 to export 184.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in five consignments through a Lagos-based courier logistics firm to London, United Kingdom, pleaded not guilty to all counts when the charges were read to them.
A statement from Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, says count one of the charge sheet, marked FHC/LAG/CR/755/2026, accuses Afolabi, alongside Boniface and Ikechukwu, of conspiring with Atandare Oladipupo Oluwarotimi and Latifat Yusuf, already arrested in London in connection with the same case, to export the narcotic drug using consignments bearing Airway Bill Numbers 2079998314, 8224082370, 2079973571, 7181131742 and 2211893902, under the shipper’s name Yemi Ejide.
Other counts detail how Boniface procured Ikechukwu to facilitate the export while Afolabi is accused of procuring a staff member of BOT Express Logistics on Lagos Island to process the illicit consignment, and of unlawfully possessing the cocaine ahead of export.
After the not-guilty plea was entered and their bail application argued, the NDLEA prosecutor Abu Ibrahim who opposed the bail application, prayed the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending trial, citing the gravity of the offences. Justice Faji thereafter ordered that the defendants be remanded in the Agency’s facility, and adjourned the matter till 4th October 2026 for ruling on the application.
Afolabi, (a.k.a. KayCee Luxury, KayCee Lux, KC, Mr. Luxury, Yemi Ejide) who paraded himself online as a luxury goods dealer and lifestyle influencer, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on the night of 13th August 2026 as he attempted to flee Nigeria on a business-class flight to Paris from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, following the interception of the 184.5kg cocaine consignment estimated to be worth about N39 billion. A subsequent search on him and his Banana Island apartment led to the recovery of exotic vehicles, foreign currency and jewellery believed to be proceeds of the illicit trade.
Count one of the charge reads: “That you: 1. Afolabi Kazeem Michael a.k.a. KayCee Luxury, KC, Yemi Ejide, 2. Boniface Freeman Ochoche Sule and 3. Ikechukwu Ekugo Patriarch, Male, Adults, on or about the period between the 28t July 2026 and 1s day of August 2026 conspired with the duo of Atandare Oladipupo Oluwarotimi and Latifat.
Yusuf (both of whom have been arrested in London, the United Kingdom in respect of this case) to export 184.5 Kilograms of Cocaine, a Narcotic Drug contained in five (5) consignments with Airway Bill Numbers 2079998314, 8224082370, 2079973571, 7181131742, 2211893902 with shipper’s name as ‘Yemi Ejide’ and you thereby committed an act which is an offence against and punishable under section 14(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
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Troops of the Nigerian Army’s 35 Battalion deployed at FOB Faskari have arrested three suspected terrorists while allegedly transporting N2.7 million ransom and mobile phones intended for onward delivery to a suspected terror kingpin in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State. Africans& Diaspora
The suspects were apprehended at about 11:30 a.m. on September 24, 2026, while riding on a motorcycle within the Faskari area.
Military sources identified them as Habibu Hamza, 35; Inusa Alhaji Iliya, 15; and Umar Alhaji Isihu, 16.
According to security analyst Zagazola Makama, preliminary interrogation indicated that the suspects were allegedly travelling to hand over the ransom money and mobile phones to individuals identified as Alhaji Gadani, said to be a younger brother of the late Ado Aleru, and another individual identified as Zailani Shu’ibu.
According to the preliminary account, Gadani is based in Yankuzo village, while Shu’ibu was said to be located around Unguwan Tsamiya, both in Faskari LGA.
The items allegedly being conveyed comprised N2.7 million in ransom, one Android phone and two small Tecno mobile phones.
The military said the items were intended for onward transmission to a suspected terror kingpin.
The three suspects and recovered exhibits were subsequently moved to the 17 Brigade Provost Group for further investigation and necessary action.
The arrest highlights the increasingly important role of tracking the financial and logistical networks supporting kidnapping and terrorist activity in parts of Katsina.
Beyond the armed elements operating in forests and rural communities, ransom payments, communications devices, couriers and intermediaries constitute an important support chain that enables criminal groups to sustain their operations.
In a separate operation, troops of CT2 conducted fighting patrols around Unguwan Samanja, Alikere and Ruwan Godiya, including the Danyaro–Unguwan Bako and Ruwan Godiya–Doma road axes, to deny terrorists and kidnappers freedom of movement.
No contact was made with criminal elements during the patrols, which ended without incident.
Troops of FOB Jibia also conducted fighting patrols along the Jibia–Katsina highway and other parts of their area of responsibility, followed by stop-and-search operations aimed at preventing terrorist and criminal activities.
Similarly, troops from CT2 and CT4 conducted fighting patrols along the Wanzamai–Faskari–Yankara–Unguwan Boka–Shemе–Funtua–Giwa axis, with stop-and-search operations conducted during the movement.
The military said the operations were aimed at frustrating the activities of terrorists and other criminal elements operating within the area.
Meanwhile, troops of 35 Battalion conducted perimeter patrols around Natsinta Cantonment General Area, while other patrols continued across the unit’s area of responsibility.
The military described the general security situation in the area as calm but unpredictable, while troops’ morale and fighting efficiency remained satisfactory.
The latest arrest is significant because it provides an indication of how ransom payments may move through intermediaries and couriers before reaching criminal commanders.
However, the identities and alleged roles of the arrested persons remain subject to further investigation, and the preliminary interrogation should not be treated as a judicial determination of guilt.
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PHOTOS: Police arrest suspect over de@th of Delta Education Director; launch manhunt for fleeing suspects
The Delta State Police Command says it has commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the de@th of Unity Ekpevbughe Adeda, a Deputy Director in the Delta State Ministry of Secondary Education, following an incident that occurred at the office of the Commissioner for Secondary Education Dr. Kingsley Ashibogwu, in Asaba on Thursday, September 24.
The Command says it has taken note of allegations suggesting that he was be@ten by aides to the commissioner identified as Enos Attah, Oputa Okestine, and Lucky Adoh.
Edafe Bright, the command’s spokesperson, said upon receipt of the complaints, the command immediately swung into action and arrested one of the suspects, Lucky Adoh, while a serious manhunt for the other suspects is ongoing.
Edafe stated that the state Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, CP Samuel E. Erale, has consequently ordered the Homicide section of the Command’s State Criminal Investigation Department to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident and the subsequent de@th of the deceased.
He said the investigation will examine all available evidence, including relevant video footages, eyewitness accounts, medical records, and the actions of all persons connected with the incident, to establish the facts and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice in accordance with the law.
The CP assured the family of the deceased, concerned citizens and members of the public that the command will neither shield nor spare anyone found culpable, irrespective of status or position. He further assures that the investigation will be conducted professionally, transparently and without interference, while urging members of the public to remain calm and refrain from concluding until the facts surrounding the incident are fully established.
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