…as agency sweeps farms, warehouses and checkpoints in sustained offensive
By Nkechi Eze
A three-year nationwide manhunt for a notorious drug trafficker, Sunday Ibigide, finally came to an end in Asaba, Delta State, after operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested the 36-year-old kingpin in possession of 250 blocks of skunk weighing 138 kilograms. Ibigide, who had been on the run since 19 March 2022 after 24.137kg of the same substance and 10 grams of molly were seized from his syndicate, was tracked and captured alongside one of his aides, Clement Osuya, while attempting to distribute the latest consignment.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who announced the breakthrough in an official statement, confirmed that credible intelligence enabled the Delta State Command to intercept the traffickers on Sunday, 10th August 2025. He added that the arrest is part of a series of coordinated operations across the country which have resulted in multiple arrests, large seizures and the destruction of several hectares of cannabis farms.
In Enugu State, six suspects were apprehended during joint raids on three cannabis farms in Enugu Ezike between 14th and 15th August. A total of 37,500kgs of skunk cultivated on 15 hectares of farmland were destroyed, while 74.5kg of the substance was recovered for use as evidence in prosecuting the suspects. Similarly, officers on patrol along Nsukka road, 9th Mile, intercepted a suspect, Emmanuel Ayogu, with 20,700 pills of tramadol and cocodamol, while two other suspects were arrested the same day at New Market, Enugu, with 27.6kg of skunk.
In Lagos, the Agency arrested a 52-year-old woman, Muyibat Mumuni, and her son, Faruk Mumuni, for storing and distributing 298 blocks of Ghana Loud weighing 149kg at their residence in Mushin. Another suspect, Emmanuel Samuel, was arrested in the Ajah area of Lekki with 8.5kg of Canadian Loud. The crackdown continued in Gombe where operatives recovered 128,000 capsules of tramadol from Sani Mohammed, who was arrested in the Jauro Jatau area, while another 337,800 capsules of tramadol were seized from a commercial driver, Sulaiman Oyedokun, along the Okene–Lokoja highway in Kogi State.
In Taraba State, operatives, supported by the Sardauna Emirate Council and the Nigeria Forest Hunters Security Service, raided the Tanmiya forest in Sardauna LGA on 12th August, destroying 11,250kg of skunk grown on 4.5 hectares of farmland. Two days later, 29,840 capsules of tramadol were seized from a suspect, Saleh Babangida, at a checkpoint in Wukari. Two suspects in Kaduna, Mohammed Amdife and Sulaiman Mohammed, were arrested with 22,640 pills of tramadol and rohypnol at Gwargwaje checkpoint and Tudun Wada respectively. Caroline David and Abdulhadi Umar were also arrested after 111.1kg of skunk was intercepted along the Zaria–Kano road.
At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State, the Agency made one of its biggest seizures this year after recovering 875,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at over ₦6.1 billion and 3.5 million pills of trodol benzhexol worth ₦1.7 billion during a joint examination with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
In Edo State, officers recovered 24 bags of skunk weighing 432kg in a bush along Warake–Auchi road in Etsako West and seized an additional 130kg at a warehouse in Sobe, Owan West LGA. In Kano, a suspect, Tahiru Madu Manga, was arrested on Zaria–Kano road with 16kg of skunk, while another suspect, Ibrahim Audu, was arrested at Gadar Tamburawa with 76kg of the same substance. NDLEA operatives also intercepted 4,320 ampoules of ketamine injection at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry–Lagos highway and arrested the suspect, Akeem Adegun.
Across the country, the Agency also intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns with advocacy visits to former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the Emir of Borgu, HRH Alhaji Muhammad Haliru Dantoro, the Emir of Lafia, Hon. Justice Sidi Bage Mohammed (Rtd), and the Shehu of Borno, HRH Dr. Abubakar Umar Ibn Garbai Elkanemi, among others.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of the PHPC, Gombe, Kogi, Lagos, Edo, Kano, Delta, Taraba and Seme Commands for their commitment and successes. He urged all operatives across the country to sustain the Agency’s balanced approach to drug control, combining aggressive enforcement with sustained public enlightenment and rehabilitation efforts.
