The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it had arrested a notorious drug kingpin after a three-year manhunt and intercepted opioids worth more than 7.8 billion naira ($5 million) in a nationwide crackdown.
The agency said 36-year-old Sunday Ibigide was arrested in Asaba, capital of Delta state, on August 10 while attempting to transport 250 blocks of cannabis weighing 138 kilogrammes in a distribution bus. His aide, 27-year-old Clement Osuya, was also detained
Ibigide had been on the run since March 2022, when NDLEA linked him to the seizure of 24 kilogrammes of cannabis and 10 grammes of molly. “Following credible intelligence, our operatives tracked and arrested him,” the agency said in a statement.
The operation formed part of a series of coordinated raids in recent days that saw the destruction of cannabis farms, seizure of pharmaceutical opioids and arrests of suspects across at least eight states
In Enugu, six men were arrested after NDLEA teams backed by the military and local vigilantes stormed cannabis plantations covering 15 hectares in Enugu Ezike. Around 37.5 tonnes of cannabis were destroyed, while nearly 75 kilograms were preserved as evidence. Additional arrests in the state yielded 27.6 kilogrammes of cannabis and over 20,000 pills of tramadol and cocodamol.
In Lagos, a 52-year-old woman, Muyibat Mumuni, and her 25-year-old son, Faruk, were arrested for storing 149 kilogrammes of cannabis known locally as “Ghana Loud”.
Another suspect was held in the Lekki area with 8.5 kilograms of Canadian cannabis.
Pharmaceutical opioids remained a major target. In Gombe, 128,000 tramadol capsules were seized from a suspect, while along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi, NDLEA operatives confiscated 337,800 capsules from a commercial driver heading to Niger state. In Taraba, raids on farmland in Tanmiya forest destroyed 11.2 tonnes of cannabis, while a separate checkpoint seizure uncovered nearly 30,000 tramadol capsules
The largest haul came at Onne port in Rivers state, where NDLEA, working with customs and other agencies, intercepted five containers carrying 875,000 bottles of codeine syrup valued at 6.1 billion naira, alongside 3.5 million benzhexol pills worth 1.7 billion naira.
Smaller seizures were also recorded in Edo, Kaduna and Kano states, including skunk, tramadol, rohypnol and ketamine injections. Dozens of suspects are now in custody awaiting prosecution.
NDLEA chairman Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa praised the seizures and arrests, urging officers to sustain what he called a “balanced approach” of enforcement and prevention. “Our war on drugs combines supply reduction with advocacy in schools, workplaces, religious institutions and communities,” he said.
