Ahead of polls, NDLEA storms Edo forest, destroys 7,286kgs skunk after gun battle

• Arrests suspect, recovers two rifles, others
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have stormed the Ujiogba Forest Reserve in Esan West Local Council of Edo State, where they destroyed 7,286 kilogrammes (72.86 tons) of warehoused skunk and five hectares of its plantation.

The special operation carried out on Wednesday, February 22, followed credible intelligence that some cartels had warehoused hundreds of jumbo bags of the illicit substance inside the thick forest for distribution to some states ahead of the general elections.

Spokesperson for the anti-drug agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement, yesterday, said the operation could, however, not go on immediately, until several road blocks set up by armed guards of the drug lords were cleared, until they were overpowered by the superior firepower of Strike Force officers of the Agency in a gun duel.

According to Babafemi, after the initial resistance, two rifles, spent cartridges of short guns and an empty shell of AK47 rifle were recovered, while a 24-year-old suspect, Calvary Essien, was arrested.

“After the gun fight, the NDLEA operatives in their numbers successfully descended on a big warehouse constructed with wood and zinc containing: 100 jumbo bags of Cannabis sativa weighing 3.2 tons; 5,000 bags of cannabis weighing 65 tons; and 137 bags of cannabis seeds weighing 4.66 tons, totaling 72.86 tons.

“Seven bags of cannabis and one bag of its seeds were subsequently taken out of the warehouse for further investigation and prosecution of suspects while the rest was set on fire.

“This is coming on the heels of similar operation on Wednesday, January 18, in the Opuje forest in Owan West Local Council of the state, where massive warehouses and tents storing over 317,417 kilogrammes (317.4 metric tons) of the psychoactive substance were destroyed and set ablaze in a two-day operation.

A police impersonator, Omoruan Theophilus, 37, who was parading as a police inspector to convey the drugs from the forests to the cities and three others: Aigberuan Jacob, 42; Ekeinde Anthony Zaza, 53, and Naomi Patience Ohiewere, 42, were arrested in connection with the drugs.

Reacting to the operation in Ujiogba forest, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended all the officers involved in the effort and the almost 10,000 officers, men and women deployed across the country in the pre-election offensive to clear every part of the country of illicit substances that could be used by thugs and miscreants before, during and after the elections.

He said taking the battle to the doorsteps of the cartels deep in the forests is to attack the menace of drug supply from the source and to also send the right message to the barons that there is no safe haven for them and their investments anywhere in Nigeria.