NDLEA Storms Edo Forest, Destroys 7,286kgs Skunk After Gun Battle
By Abdullahi Ahmad Bamalli
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have stormed the Ujiogba Forest Reserve in Esan West LGA, Edo, and destroyed 7,286 kilograms (72.86 tons) of skunk and five hectares of its plantation.
The Director, of Media and Advocacy NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Mr Babafemi said the operation was carried out ahead of the 2023 general elections on Feb. 25.
He said a special operation carried out on Feb. 22, followed credible intelligence that some cartels had warehoused hundreds of jumbo bags of the illicit substance.
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These, he said, were located inside the thick forest of the reserve for distribution to some states ahead of the general elections.
He added that the operation could, however, not go on immediately until after several roadblocks set up by armed guards of the drug lords were cleared.
According to him, they were overpowered by the superior firepower of Strike Force officers of the Agency in a gun duel.
“After the initial resistance, two spent cartridges of shotguns and an empty shell of an AK47 rifle were recovered while a 24-year-old suspect, Calvary Essien, was arrested.
“After the gunfight, the NDLEA operatives successfully descended on a big warehouse constructed with wood and zinc containing:
“100 jumbo bags of cannabis sativa weighing 3.2 tons; 5,000 bags of cannabis weighing 65 tons; and 137 bags of cannabis seeds weighing 4.66 tons, totalling 72.86 tons.
“Seven bags of cannabis and one bag of its seeds were subsequently taken out of the warehouse for further investigation and prosecution of suspects while the rest was set ablaze,” he said.
Mr Babafemi said this was coming on the heels of a similar operation on Jan. 18, in the Opuje forest in the Owan West Local Government Area of the state.
He said massive warehouses and tents storing over 317,417 kilograms (317.4 metric tons) of the psychoactive substance were destroyed and set ablaze in a two-day operation.
“At least, a police impersonator, Omoruan Theophilus, 37, who was parading as a Police Inspector to convey the drugs from the forests to the cities and three others: Aigberuan Jacob, 42; Ekeinde Anthony Zaza, 53, and Naomi Patience Ohiewere, 42, was arrested in connection with the drugs,” he said.
Mr Babafemi quoted the Chairman, of NDLEA, Buba Marwa as commending all the officers involved in the effort and the 10,000 officers deployed across the country in the renewed pre-election offensive.
Mr Marwa said the deployment was necessary to clear every part of the country of illicit substances for use by thugs and miscreants before, during and after the elections.
He said taking the battle to the doorsteps of the cartels, deep in the forests, was to attack the menace of drug supply from the source.
He added that it was also to send the right message to the barons that there was no haven for them and their investments anywhere in Nigeria.
