NDLEA arrests grandfather, siblings for drugs

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 75-year-old grandfather, Nna Felix, and two brothers, John Abugu, 43, and Kenneth Abugu, 31, in separate drug trafficking incidents across the country as the agency intensified its crackdown on illicit drug activities.

The Abugu brothers were arrested on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to board a flight to India.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said the suspects were caught with five kilograms of cocaine concealed within the walls of their suitcases.

He said they had claimed to be travelling for medical treatment but were intercepted following credible intelligence

Babafemi said, “The two brothers were arrested at the Lagos airport on Thursday, 3rd April 2025, following proactive processing of credible intelligence. They claimed they were travelling to India for medical treatment, but when their suitcases were thoroughly searched by NDLEA officers, whitish powdery substances later confirmed to be cocaine were discovered on the walls of their bags.”

On the same day at the Lagos airport, Babafemi said operatives intercepted a 20-year-old Ghanaian-British national, Parker Darren Hazekia Osei, with 36 parcels of Loud—a potent strain of cannabis—packed in a giant travel bag weighing 19.40 kilograms.

He said the suspect, who identified himself as a computer science student at East London University, reportedly flew in from Bangkok, Thailand, via Ethiopian Airlines and admitted to picking up the consignment in Bangkok for delivery in Nigeria.

In another operation, Babafemi said NDLEA officers in Abia State arrested 75-year-old grandfather Nna Felix on Saturday, April 5, with 1.6kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis, during a raid in Umunteke Asa, Ukwa West Local Government Area.

In a separate bust in Aba, 21-year-old David Chinemerem was caught with 2,050 ampoules of pentazocine on April 1. The agency also recorded major seizures and arrests in Kogi, Yobe, Anambra, and the Federal Capital Territory.

In Kogi, he said a 33-year-old woman, Ngozi Ogili, was apprehended along the Okene-Lokoja highway while transporting 3kg of methamphetamine from Lagos to Abuja. Follow-up operations led to the recovery of additional illicit substances, including Loud and Colorado.

In Yobe State, Babafemi said operatives arrested Abdullahi Adamu with 381 bottles of codeine syrup and 108 tablets of tramadol along the Potiskum-Damaturu road on April 5.

He also said a series of coordinated raids in Anambra led to the arrest of multiple suspects, including Obinna Sunday and Ugochukwu Ojalanonye, and the seizure of 195,000 pills of tramadol, 4.2kg of codeine syrup, and 5.4kg of pentazocine.

“In the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, 3rd April, arrested 51-year-old Sunday Ayogu with 25kg skunk and 90.4g of methamphetamine during a raid operation at Wuse market in Abuja, while two ladies, Faith Etim, 64, and Victoria Asuquo Etim, 40, were nabbed on Friday, April 4, when NDLEA operatives supported by men of the Nigerian Army raided cannabis plantations in Esuk-Odot community, Odukpani LGA of Cross River State, where 250,000 kilograms of the psychoactive plant were destroyed on over 100 hectares of farmland,” the statement added.