Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted multiple shipments of Colorado, also known as Colos, and other illicit drugs in different parts of the country, recovering more than 2.3 tonnes of assorted narcotics in recent operations.
It was reports that the agency in a statement on Sunday said two consignments of Colorado arriving from the United Kingdom were intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The drugs were concealed in consolidated cargoes.
One of the consignments contained 27 parcels of Colorado weighing 32.20kg.
A 44-year-old real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, was arrested on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, after he allegedly arrived to collect a luggage containing the drugs using a code reportedly sent to him by his brother based in the UK.
A second operation linked to another shipment from the UK led to the arrest of Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44. NDLEA operatives recovered 12.25kg of Colorado from the consignment allegedly sent to him by his brother in the UK.
The agency also intercepted Colorado concealed inside music speakers at two Lagos motor parks.
NDLEA Seizes Over 2.3 Tonnes Of Drugs, Arrests 12 SuspectsNDLEA Seizes Over 2.3 Tonnes Of Drugs, Arrests 12 SuspectsNDLEA Seizes Over 2.3 Tonnes Of Drugs, Arrests 12 SuspectsNDLEA Seizes Over 2.3 Tonnes Of Drugs, Arrests 12 SuspectsNDLEA Seizes Over 2.3 Tonnes Of Drugs, Arrests 12 SuspectsNDLEA Seizes Over 2.3 Tonnes Of Drugs, Arrests 12 Suspects
At the Maza Maza motor park, operatives from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) found three packs of Colorado hidden inside a music speaker.
The consignment was reportedly being transported to Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire and later to Liberia.
A 41-year-old tour agent, Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, and the alleged owner of the consignment, Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were arrested during an operation carried out at a nearby eatery.
At Iddo motor park, NDLEA officers arrested Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry on Friday, September 11, while he was allegedly attempting to send 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.
In Delta State, separate operations in Ughelli and Asaba resulted in the seizure of different controlled substances, including pentazocine injections, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam, also known as Hypnox, and MDMA, commonly called Molly. Some of the drugs were reportedly hidden inside music speakers.
Two suspects, Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi, were arrested in connection with the seizures.
In Kano State, NDLEA operatives raided an area in Sabon Gari and arrested 20-year-old Saidu Adamu. The operation led to the recovery of 785,000 capsules of pregabalin weighing 669.425kg.
Another operation along the Zaria-Kano-Hadejia road resulted in the seizure of 1,700 diazepam tablets. The tablets were allegedly hidden inside loaves of bread. A 28-year-old suspect, Habibu Sabitu, was arrested.
In Plateau State, NDLEA officers arrested 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor at Katako Market in Jos, where he was allegedly found with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.
The agency also continued its crackdown on illegal cannabis cultivation in Edo State. Operatives destroyed 4,832.56kg of skunk cannabis found on farms located in Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest.
The operations covered Ovia South West, Owan East and Owan West Local Government Areas. A 39-year-old suspect, Sunday Segun, was also arrested on Friday, September 11.
In Ondo State, officers acting on intelligence raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, on Wednesday, September 9.
During the operation, 186kg of skunk was recovered from the boot of a Toyota Avalon car with registration number ABJ 917 FV. A 58-year-old suspect, Paul Ogbuwala, was arrested. He was allegedly preparing to transport the consignment to Jos for distribution.
In Kaduna State, a female suspect identified as Hannah Michael was arrested in Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis.
Four suspects were also arrested in Bayelsa State after NDLEA operatives recovered 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg at Ovom in Yenagoa.
Those arrested included 70-year-old Godwoman Gboriye, Motombo Silver, 44, Pere Andrew, 39, and Keme Andrew, 43.
Beyond drug seizures and arrests, the NDLEA said its commands across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaigns during the week.
The sensitisation activities were carried out in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities. Among them was an awareness lecture for students and staff of Mezube Islamiyya Academy in Tudun Wada, Kano.
The agency also visited the management of Cross River State College of Health Technology in Calabar as part of its advocacy programme. In Jos, traditional rulers from Rikkos visited the NDLEA Academy to appreciate the agency for allowing members of the community to access its clinic.
The NDLEA Zone 4 Command also paid an advocacy visit to the Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Shehu Chindo Yamusa III, in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), praised officers involved in the operations across Lagos, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa and Kano.
Marwa urged officers to maintain pressure on drug trafficking networks and continue efforts to block routes used by traffickers to move illicit substances through airports, seaports, land borders and communities where cannabis is cultivated.
The NDLEA said the operations form part of its continued efforts to disrupt the supply and distribution of illegal drugs across the country.
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has summoned heads of security agencies in the state to a meeting following a spike in security breaches, particularly recent killings involving rival cult groups in the state.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Samuel Ojo, disclosed this during an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, saying the meeting would be held on Wednesday.
Ojo said the meeting would deliberate on and address the killings by suspected cultists in the state.
He added that the meeting would also discuss measures to make forests in the state safer, in view of the recent killing of an ISWAP leader in Owo, Ondo State.
“We are holding a security meeting on Wednesday, by the special grace of God, to reassure our people and put our security agencies on their toes.
“What happened in Ondo is a lesson to those criminals hibernating in the forests.
We will not take it lightly with anyone using the forest as a hideout,” he said.
He further said, “Aside from that, we are also using the meeting to address the incessant killings by rival cult groups in the past weeks.
“We need to meet and discuss how to stop these killings by cult groups or any other violent crimes hiding under that canopy.”
The governor’s aide, who stressed the need to stop the killings to protect Osun’s corporate image, warned perpetrators of violent crimes to desist or face dire consequences.
“We need to stop it, so as not to give our state a bad name, because nobody knows what they are fighting for or why they are killing themselves,” Ojo said.
The PUNCH reports that two separate attacks by members of rival cult groups, which occurred in Osogbo, the state capital, between last Friday and Sunday, left two people dead and about five others injured.
In reaction to the latest cult attack, the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Zungura, subsequently ordered tactical teams to raid suspected criminal hideouts in Osogbo.
THE third prosecution witness (PW3) in the ongoing trial of the immediate past governor of Taraba State, Darius Dickson Ishaku and one other, before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Taiwo Jones, on Tuesday, narrated how officials of the state government sent funds into his personal accounts during former governor’s tenure.
Ishaku and a former Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state, Bello Yero, are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Sylvanus Oriji, sitting at Maitama, Abuja, on a 15-count charge, bordering on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy and conversion of public funds to the tune of N27 billion.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge, marked FCT/HC/CR/792/2024, brought against them by the anti-corruption commission.
Continuing his evidence-in-chief on Tuesday, at the resumed hearing in the case, Jones, an assistant cashier in the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, told the court that some funds were sent into his two personal accounts, including a pre-generated account opened during his mandatory one-year national service.
Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, Jones informed the court that the rate at which funds were deposited into his personal accounts was lower to that of his company’s account.
According to him often times when such funds entered his accounts, the second defendant, Yero, and some government officials, including the director of Finance in the Bureau, Babangida Hassan and chief cashier, John Columba, issued verbal directives on how to disburse the funds.
He told the court that though his bosses in the Bureau sometimes sent money into his accounts, some senders were unknown to him.
“There are times my bosses in the office will send money to the account and give me instructions on what to do,” the PWthree told the court.
Asked to highlight some of the deposits made into his personal accounts, Jones told the court that on November 1, 2019, one Abdullahi Yunusa deposited N7 million.
He added that he was instructed to pay N4 million to Prince Onwuzurike, N2 million to one Musa and N1 million to Yunusa A’s account.
Asked to confirm to the court if the money deposited into his personal accounts was from Taraba local governments, the prosecution witness answered in the negative, adding that he did not know who deposited it.
Meanwhile, following a request by the counsels for the defendants, with no objection from the prosecution, Justice Oriji, adjourned the case to October 21, for cross examination of the PWthree.
Fake revenue agents posing as officials of the Delta State Internal Revenue Service (DSIRS) have invaded the state with fraudulent tax documents, issuing notices to business premises and other corporate organisations.
The Service said the act is intended to defraud unsuspecting taxpayers and divert money meant for government revenue.
In a statement, the Executive Chairman of DSIRS, Solomon Ighrakpata, described the development as a criminal offence capable of undermining public confidence in the state’s tax administration system.
“The DSIRS wishes to categorically state that it has not authorised any individual or unauthorised agent to issue tax demand notices or collect taxes on its behalf outside established and approved channels,” Ighrakpata stated.
He advised taxpayers to exercise due diligence and verify the authenticity of any tax demand notice, assessment, payment request or correspondence purportedly issued by the DSIRS before making any payment.
Ighrakpata further urged members of the public to make payments only through officially approved government channels and to promptly report any suspicious notice, payment request or individual claiming to be an authorised tax official to the Service for verification.
He disclosed that the DSIRS is collaborating with law enforcement agencies to identify, apprehend and prosecute persons involved in the issuance of fake demand notices, impersonation of tax officials and other fraudulent tax collection activities.
According to him, the Service will pursue such cases to the fullest extent permitted by law, warning that the perpetrators could cause revenue leakages to the government, financial losses to taxpayers and disruption of the state’s revenue administration.
He reassured taxpayers that legitimate taxes paid to the government are critical to the provision of public infrastructure and essential services, adding that effort is being made to protect the integrity of the state’s revenue collection system.
He called on all taxpayers, businesses and members of the public to remain vigilant and cooperate with the Service in the fight against tax fraud and revenue diversion.
Ighrakpata advised that any tax demand notice or related correspondence should be verified through the DSIRS’s official communication channels before payment, reaffirming the Service’s commitment to a transparent, accountable, efficient and credible tax administration system.
