By Kingsley Omonobi

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Egwu Phillip Inya, a suspected drug trafficker claiming to be a building engineer, for attempting to retrieve illicit drug consignments concealed in pressure machines imported from South Africa.

NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that Egwu, 42, was apprehended on Monday, December 2, 2024, at Okeyson Motor Park, Enugu. He was collecting three pressure machines containing parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 7.4 kilograms.

Babafemi said: “The consignments arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on November 29, 2024. Based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives at the MMIA monitored the shipment through the clearing process and up to a logistics company’s warehouse outside the airport. The point of collection was later changed to Enugu, leading to Egwu’s arrest during a follow-up operation.”

NDLEA operatives intercepted 511,000 tramadol pills from a Siena vehicle at Hildi, Askira Uba road, in the early hours of Friday, December 6. The occupants abandoned the vehicle upon noticing they were being pursued.

Two suspects, Olanrewaju Alale, 48, and Babatunde Kayode Ijadahun, 55, were arrested on the Ise-Emure road. They were transporting 108 jumbo bags of cannabis, weighing 1,323 kilograms, in a J5 bus marked EPE 958 XJ. The consignment was reportedly en route to Ondo State for eventual distribution in the North.

Adekunle Yusuf, 33, was arrested with 704 kilograms of cannabis, concealed in white sacks, on Idere Road, Igboora, on December 6.

Ramata Bola Adeyemo, a 65-year-old grandmother, was arrested on December 6 at Odunfa Street, Lagos Island, where operatives recovered 20.6 liters of codeine-based syrup.

Alhaji Lawan Manga was arrested on December 5 at Ogundana Street, Ikeja, with 4.7 kilograms of cannabis and 1.3 kilograms of tramadol.

WADA Sensitization Efforts

In addition to enforcement, NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns across the country. Recent lectures targeted schools, worship centers, workplaces, and communities, including:

Oyo State: Progressive Secondary School, Ado Awaye.

Osun State: Muslim Grammar School, Ede.

Borno State: Government Girls College, Maiduguri.

Rivers State: Community Secondary School, Ogale.

Enugu State: Santa Maria Secondary School, Igogoro.

Kano State: Chiranci Upper Basic Junior Secondary School, Bichi.

Lagos State: Awareness lectures for National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) members at Orile Agege.

The NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), lauded the efforts of officers and commands across the country, including MMIA, Adamawa, Ekiti, Lagos, and Oyo. He praised their operational successes in reducing drug supply and demand, highlighting the agency’s balanced approach to combating drug abuse in Nigeria.