Crime
PHOTOS: NDLEA Arrests 74-Year Old Man With Large Consignment Of Cocaine At Abuja Airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 74-year-old grandpa, identified as Ikwuakalom Nwakoro Emeka, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, after a large consignment of cocaine was discovered in foil papers and balloons concealed in his luggage.
It was reports that the NDLEA Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement issued on Sunday, disclosed that its operatives at the departure hall of the Abuja airport arrested Emeka while attempting to board a British Airways flight BA082 to Heathrow, London, United Kingdom, on Saturday, March 14, 2026.
During a search of the septuagenarian’s luggage, blocks of cocaine weighing 11 kilograms were discovered concealed inside food items, including ground dry pepper, carefully wrapped in foil papers and balloons.
The statement further disclosed that in Lagos, NDLEA operatives acting on credible intelligence in the early hours of Monday, March 9, arrested a woman, identified as Maryam Olalowo, at Ikad Hotel and Suites, on Etim Inyang Street, Victoria Island, while attempting to sell 89grams of cocaine and 20grams of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis.
“She was found with her three children, including an infant, at the time of the arrest. She confessed the illicit drugs belong to her husband, Ibrahim Olalowo Olatunji, who was later taken into custody same day while his wife was immediately set free.
“Ibrahim confirmed ownership of the illicit drugs in his statement, while further investigation revealed that he had previously been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment for a similar offence in 2015.”
Also, NDLEA operatives, in another interdiction operation, arrested two suspects: Kalilou Simpara and Saidu Ibrahim at Ebetu Ero, Lagos Island, where they recovered 68,000 pills of tramadol 250mg and 225mg after they had loaded the exhibits into their truck and were preparing to transport them to the Benin Republic on Monday, March 9.
A follow-up operation was conducted on Wednesday, March 11, at the Idumota market on Lagos Island, where the actual owner of the consignment, Nnamdi Cyprian, was arrested.
The statement stressed, “A search of his shop led to the discovery of a parcel already prepared for waybill delivery, containing 1,000 tablets of tramadol 250mg. Another raid at Idumota market on Friday, March 13, led to the arrest of Nwanosike Kelvin and the recovery of 47,500 ampoules of pentazocine injection from his shop.
“While a 42-year-old Magaji Dan Azumi was arrested at Bebeji area of Kano with 386kg skunk on Tuesday, March 10, NDLEA officers in Abuja recovered 282.2kg skunk from a suspect, Isah Wako, 42, in Gwagwalada area of the FCT on Friday, March 13.”
The NDLEA operatives also raided the Egwa forest reserve in Aduan village, Orhionmwon LGA, in Edo State, where a 33-year-old suspect, Chinedo Odalonu, 33, was apprehended and a total of 4,218.96kg of skunk was destroyed on two farms, with 16.5kg of the same substance recovered.
The statement further stated that no fewer than 339,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup were intercepted in two containers at the Apapa seaport in Lagos on Saturday, March 14, during a joint examination of the shipments by NDLEA officers, men of Customs and other security agencies.
The agency noted that the containers had earlier been watch-listed by NDLEA following credible intelligence on concealment of opioids in them.
While commending the officers and men of NAIA, Lagos, Kano, Edo and FCT Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
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Crime
PHOTOS: NDLEA intercepts N6.2bn worth of ‘Jihadi drug’ in Ghana soap, opioids at Lagos airport
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of captagon, widely known as ‘Jihadi drug’ and millions of opioid pills worth over N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos.
The captagon shipment was seized at the Lagos airport on Saturday 22nd August 2026 following the arrest of a 49-year-old cross-border kingpin Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra Ghana aboard an African World Airlines flight.
A search of his carton of local bathing soap, popularly called “Ghana Soap,” led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of the illicit amphetamine drug worth over N1.5 billion concealed within blocks of soap. Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones, was first intercepted in Nigeria by NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa port in Lagos. After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North.
In another successful interdiction operation at the Lagos airport, no fewer than 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40 kilograms and more than N4.6 billion in street value, were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA. Three of the consignments, comprising 900,000 tablets of Tramaking (815.40kg), arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh, while a fourth, comprising 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol (1,972kg), arrived on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The shipments, which had been placed under close watch after no one showed up to claim them, were formally retrieved after a joint examination by NDLEA officers, Customs and other stakeholders on Friday 28th August.
A 31-year-old US-returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun was on 19th August arrested by NDLEA operatives at Ikate area of Lekki after he showed up to take delivery of 3.350 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
Fireproof safe cracked open in Rivers drug den raid
In Rivers state, NDLEA operatives have raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt where they recovered a fireproof iron safe among other items. When the safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday 25th August, 237 grams of colorado; 316 grams of cocaine, and 10 grams of heroin were recovered from it.
Three suspects: Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were on Friday 28th August nabbed at Ipele-Idoani road, in Ondo state with a total of 728kg skunk recovered from their truck marked KRE 120 XB. Two other suspects: Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu forest with 341kg of same substance on Wednesday 26th August.
In Delta state, over 176,000 pills of assorted opioids including tramadol, molly and others were recovered from two interdiction operations in parts of the state between Wednesday 26th and Friday 28th August.
With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat, Dadin Kowa, Gombe; Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna, Ungogo LGA, Kano; youths at the adolescent lifestyle programme organised by NNPCL in Benin city, Edo state; while the Ondo State Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the State Governor, Dr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, with the Taraba state command of the Agency paying a similar advocacy visit to the State Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Ondo, and Delta Commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.
He also directed them to sustain the momentum against drug traffickers who are desperate to explore every means, including concealment in everyday household items like soap, to move their illicit consignments.
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The Benue State Police Command has arrested a 500-level student of Fr Moses Adasu University, formerly Benue State University, for allegedly attacking a neighbour with hot water. LawEnforcement
The spokesperson for the command, DSP Peter Aondongu, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday, August 29, 2026 said that an investigation had commenced to unravel the cause of fighting between the two students.
“Yes, it happened yesterday, Friday, August 28, 2026. From the information I have, both students were staying in the same room and had an issue. The suspect allegedly boiled water, added salt and pepper, and poured the mixture on the victim and then locked her inside,” the PPRO said.
“After some time, people became aware of what had happened and were able to intervene and rescue the victim. She was subsequently taken to the hospital for treatment, while the suspect was arrested.
“I don’t have much information yet about the genesis of the disagreement or what led to the incident, but I can confirm that the incident happened. I also understand that both of them are students of the Benue State University.”
Narrating what might have transpired between the two female students, the Students’ Union President, Akighirga Vitalis, who led members of his executive to the hospital, said that Rose explained that there was a disagreement with the suspect identified as Felicia, which allegedly escalated into the violent attack.
Vitalis said that the duo had been living together before disagreements over personal matters began to strain their relationship.
While expressing shock over the condition of the student and condemning the alleged attack, Vitalis described it as “a grave and unacceptable assault on the life and well-being of a fellow student.”
“We are deeply concerned about this incident. The Students’ Union will follow this matter closely until justice prevails,” he said.
The union president assured all that the union would engage relevant authorities and monitor the investigation, as well as any disciplinary process that may arise within the university.
Vitalis said that if the allegations against Felicia are established through due process, the Students’ Union would support the application of appropriate sanctions under the university’s regulations, including expulsion where warranted.
“The Students’ Union will not condone violence or any conduct capable of endangering the life of another student,” Vitalis added.
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