The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted illicit substances worth more than ₦3.4 billion in Lagos and Rivers.
In addition, the operators discovered a cache of 942 explosives, marking a significant step forward in the fight against drugs and organised crime.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, 2 million tafrodol 225mg pills and 163,000 bottles of codeine syrup were discovered on April 29 during a joint examination of a watch-listed container by NDLEA officers, Customs Service personnel, and other security agencies at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State.
He went on to say that in Lagos, 1,500,000 controlled opioid pills were discovered in the Alaba-Rago region of Ojo.
The statement partly read, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted no fewer than three million five hundred thousand (3,500,000) pills of opioids and one hundred and sixty-three thousand (163,000) bottles of codeine syrup with a combined street value of over three billion, four hundred and twenty-eight million naira (₦3,428,000,000.00) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Lagos State.
The bulk of the seizures – two million pills of tafrodol 225mg and 163,000 bottles of codeine syrup – was made on Tuesday, 29th April 2025, during a joint examination of a watch-listed container by NDLEA officers, men of Customs Service and other security agencies at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State.
“In Lagos, a total of 1,500,000 pills of a controlled opioid were recovered from a suspect, Olarenwaju Wahab, at the Alaba-Rago area of Ojo on Tuesday, 29th April, while the source of the consignment was traced to Q104B Road 25, Victoria Garden City, Lekki, which is the residence of one Obinna Kenneth, who is now at large.”
Babafemi mentioned that in Kaduna State, a routine check along the Kaduna-Zaria motorway on May 3 resulted in the capture of a commercial vehicle from Nasarawa.
He stated a search turned up 942 bombs stashed in a sack.
“In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Kaduna – Zaria motorway on Saturday, 3rd May, intercepted a commercial vehicle coming from Nasarawa State heading to Zamfara State.
“A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of a total of Nine Hundred and Forty-Two (942) explosives concealed in a sack and the subsequent arrest of a 30-year-old suspect, Nura Sani Muhammad (alias Nura Hariji),” he said.
Babafemi further claimed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, NDLEA operatives intercepted 42 packets of Canadian Loud, a strong cannabis strain, disguised in food tins aboard a British Airways flight from Canada.
He further stated that three individuals, including the receiver, Monsurat Lawson, were apprehended between April 30 and May 3.
In a separate instance at Lagos International Airport on May 2, Babafemi stated that businessman Bobby Morris Osas was apprehended while attempting to go to Italy with over 8,000 tramadol pills.
“Similarly, on April 28, NDLEA officers foiled an attempt to export drugs to Iraq through a courier company, seizing 104 grams of tramadol and skunk hidden in bottles of body cream,” he added.
Following a 10-month investigation, NDLEA officers seized Dominic Chiegozie Obijiaku, the 52-year-old Managing Director of Ovidaq International Ltd, for his role in importing over 2.6 million tramadol pills through the Apapa port in July 2024.
A raid on his Lekki home also uncovered 51 wraps of Canadian Loud.
“After 10 months of painstaking investigation, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, 26th April, arrested a wanted drug kingpin, the 52-year-old Managing Director of Ovidaq International Ltd, Dominic Chiegozie Obijiaku, over his involvement in the importation of a consignment of 2,616,060 pills of tramadol 225mg intercepted by NDLEA at Apapa seaport in Lagos on 28th July 2024.
“A follow-up operation at his house in Lekki led to the seizure of 51 wraps of Canadian Loud weighing 34 grams,” the statement noted.
The agency also made substantial arrests in Kano, Edo, Anambra, and Niger states, collecting hundreds of thousands of opioid pills, codeine syrup bottles, pentazocine injectable ampoules, and cannabis from a number of individuals.
