NDLEA Arrests Pastor & Wife, Several Others For Drug Traffickin

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a cleric and his wife in Lagos for allegedly smuggling skunk.

The couple, identified as Afolabi Hodonu, 45, and Success Hodonu, 35, who oversee a church at Agonvi Sea Beach in Sakpo, Seme Border, Badagry, were picked up on Thursday, April 2, at the Gbaji checkpoint.

A thorough search of their Honda Pilot SUV uncovered 11 kilogrammes of skunk hidden in secret compartments of the vehicle.

The arrest followed the earlier detention of a fake security agent, Sunday Samuel, 35, at the same checkpoint on March 30. Samuel was moving 24.5 kilogrammes of skunk from Seme to Lagos.

In a separate but linked operation, NDLEA officers dismantled a major drug trafficking syndicate spanning three weeks of intelligence work.

The breakthrough started on March 11 when officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja intercepted 3.10 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed inside tins of palm kernel extract meant for export to the United Kingdom.

Two handlers, Idris Olayiwola Amoo and Akinlami Akinsoji Adedoyin, were arrested on the spot.

A sting operation on April 2 led to the capture of the consignment sender, Ezemuwo Joel, who used the fake identity Ajayi. His confession pointed directly to the syndicate kingpin.

Officers later flushed out 52-year-old King Arinze from his hideout in Isolo, Lagos. At his warehouse on Ola Ifa Street in Bucknor, Isolo, agents recovered 886 tins of palm kernel extract prepared for drug concealment, a sealing machine, tin openers, paint sprays, 52 grammes of cannabis sativa, and hand gloves.

Arinze reportedly admitted to personally draining the oil from the tins to hide the cocaine.

Across other parts of the country, NDLEA commands recorded fresh seizures. In Borno State on April 1, officers arrested 28-year-old Aisha Adamu along Gamboru Ngala Road with 4.3 kilogrammes of colorado, a synthetic cannabis strain she allegedly supplied to bandit groups operating between Nigeria’s North-East and Chad.

In Adamawa, a trailer with registration number RUW 947 XA was stopped on March 30 along Namtari Road in Yola South, yielding 48,000 pills of tramadol. Driver Abdulaziz Ismail Korede and recipient Idris Adamu were taken into custody.

In Osun State, 60-year-old Idiatu Oladejo was arrested in Isale Osun, Osogbo, on April 1 with 15 kilogrammes of skunk. The same day, intelligence led to a raid on Itaogbolu Forest in Akure, Ondo State, where 351 kilogrammes of skunk and its seeds were destroyed.

Benue State recorded the arrest of 66-year-old Aminu Usman Gembu at Aliade on April 1 with 28,600 capsules of tramadol.

In Edo State, Roland Owie, 37, was nabbed on March 30 after a raid on his warehouse at Egbanke in Orhionmwon Local Government Area, where 1,378 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered.

Oyo State police also picked up a notorious dealer, 40-year-old Ayantola Omodunmomi, also known as Iya Elle, at Eleta in Ibadan on April 1. Agents recovered 45.6 kilogrammes of skunk from her warehouse after surveillance revealed she used her 11-year-old daughter, Anjola, to deliver drugs to customers.

Meanwhile, NDLEA commands continued demand-reduction efforts with sensitisation programmes. Lectures were held for students and staff at Okere Grammar School in Saki, Oyo State; Shasha Comprehensive High School in Alimosho, Lagos; Ma’ahad Ahmad Turaki Islamiyya in Kano; Ezi-Awka Community Secondary School in Anambra; and Madrasatul Ihsan in Zamfara State, among others.

NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers from the MMIA, Seme, Borno, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Edo, Adamawa and Benue commands for the week’s successes.

He praised all commands for balancing supply and demand reduction strategies.

“These successful operations are a testament to the agency’s evolving intelligence capabilities and our unwavering commitment to choking the supply lines of drug cartels,” Marwa stated. “Whether they hide behind legitimate businesses, religious titles, or complex concealment methods, we will find them.”