NDLEA arrests drug kingpin linked to 20 bank accounts, two ex-convicts

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a wanted drug kingpin and two ex-convicts in separate operations across Nigeria.

Ajiboye Damilare Samuel, also known as “Na God,” was apprehended in Ogun State after evading arrest for over a year.

He was linked to a warehouse in Lagos where over 1,100 kilograms of cannabis was seized in September 2023. The NDLEA’s Directorate of Assets and Financial Investigation traced 20 bank accounts linked to Samuel and blocked them.

The agency also nabbed two ex-convicts with illicit substances in Katsina State. The suspects were arrested in separate incidents for drug trafficking.

According to Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy, in Katsina, two ex-convicts: Muhammad Machido, 44, and Zakari Ya’u Buhari, 32, were again arrested by NDLEA operatives with illicit substances. While Muhammad was nabbed along Kano-Katsina highway, Kankia, on Monday 23rd September with 51,000 pills of opioids, Zakari was arrested in Daura with 14 blocks of cannabis weighing 7kg.”

Babafemi detailed their criminal history, stating, “Zakari was first arrested on 8th February 2024 and sentenced by court to 15 months’ imprisonment with an option of N15,000 fine, which he paid. In his case, Muhammad was earlier arrested with 45kg cannabis sativa and 2.5kg tramadol on 12th December 2022. He was then sentenced to two years imprisonment.”

In a separate development, NDLEA operatives arrested a wanted drug kingpin, Ajiboye Damilare Samuel, also known as ‘Na God,’ after 12 months on the run. Ajiboye was apprehended on Wednesday, 25th September, in a bank in Ogun state following the discovery of 1,101 kilograms of Ghana Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, in his warehouse in the Akala, Mushin area of Lagos in September 2023.

Babafemi explained, “The arrest of Ajiboye in a bank in Ogun state followed well-coordinated efforts by the Agency’s Directorate of Assets and Financial Investigation, which traced 20 bank accounts linked to the suspect and blocked them.”

In Lagos, NDLEA agents also detained a community leader and Sarkin Yamma of Badagry, Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Talba, on Friday, 27th September, after arresting his two wives, Hauwa and Asma’u, and his son, Sadat, for possession of 226.2kg of cannabis at their homes in Badagry on 18th September.

“Another operation in Lagos on 24th September led to the seizure of 9.7kg of cannabis sativa and 50 litres of ‘monkey tail,’ a mixture of cannabis and dry gin, from a suspect, Florence Moses, at Badore area of Ajah, Lekki,” Babafemi added.

Further arrests were made in Kogi, where three suspects—Owolabi Dele, 42; Ayodele Monday, 40; and Olawale Ojo, 22—were apprehended while transporting 132 sacks of cannabis, weighing over 2,000kg, in a Mercedes container truck from Osun state to Abuja. Another suspect, Benedict Simire, 57, was arrested in Kabba with 33.40kg of cannabis and a pump-action gun.

In Lagos, on the same day, the Marine Command of the NDLEA intercepted a boat carrying 71 bags of Ghana Loud weighing 2,982kg off Alfa beach, Lekki. Although the suspects escaped by diving into the water, the NDLEA, with assistance from the Nigerian Customs Service, recovered the boat and the illicit cargo.

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At the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA agents intercepted 1,500 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup, amounting to 150,000 bottles, during a joint operation with Nigerian Customs and other security agencies on 25th September.

In Niger State, the agency recovered 6,000 ampoules of pentazocine from a suspect, Chukwudi Nwanoche, while in Kano, operatives arrested Aminu Danmanya, 31, with 15,530 capsules of tramadol at a hotel on Katsina Road.

In Plateau State, NDLEA agents arrested Jummai Luka, 58, with 12,000 pills of tramadol on 27th September in Jos North LGA. Meanwhile, in Oyo State, Segun Asogba, 50, was apprehended with 601kg of cannabis and a Dane gun in Igangan town on 24th September.

Babafemi also reported that “Benjamin Benjamin Ebei, 33, was arrested in Cross River State, with 38kg of cannabis recovered from his vehicle.” Another operation in Edo State on 24th September led to the arrest of Idonuan Ajilo, 53, in Owan West LGA, with 112.5kg of cannabis seized from his store.