Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) 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 siblings were arrested on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to board a flight to India.
In a statement on Sunday, the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the suspects were caught with five kilograms of cocaine concealed within the walls of their suitcases.
He mentioned that 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, Babafemi claimed operatives apprehended Parker Darren Hazekia Osei, a 20-year-old Ghanaian-British national, at Lagos International Airport with 36 packets of Loud—a strong strain of cannabis—packed in a massive luggage bag weighing 19.40 kilogrammes.
He stated that the suspect, who represented himself as a computer science student at East London University, apparently travelled in from Bangkok, Thailand, on Ethiopian Airlines and acknowledged picking up the shipment in Bangkok for delivery to Nigeria.
In another operation, Babafemi stated that NDLEA officers in Abia State apprehended 75-year-old grandpa Nna Felix on Saturday, April 5, with 1.6kg of skunk, a cannabis strain, during a raid in Umunteke Asa, Ukwa West Local Government Area.
On April 1, 21-year-old David Chinemerem was arrested in Aba for possession of 2,050 ampoules of pentazocine.
The agency also reported big seizures and arrests in Kogi, Yobe, Anambra, and the Federal Capital Territory.
In Kogi, he claimed a 33-year-old lady, Ngozi Ogili, was detained on the Okene-Lokoja route while smuggling 3kg of methamphetamine from Lagos to Abuja. Follow-up activities resulted in the recovery of more illicit drugs, including Loud and Colorado.
According to Babafemi, on April 5, operatives seized Abdullahi Adamu with 381 bottles of codeine syrup and 108 tramadol tablets on the Potiskum-Damaturu route in Yobe State.
He also stated that a series of coordinated operations in Anambra resulted in the arrests of several individuals, including Obinna Sunday and Ugochukwu Ojalanonye, as well as the confiscation of 195,000 tramadol pills, 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 25 kg of 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.
