The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted an AK-47 rifle and seized thousands of pills of psychoactive drugs during a series of operations across the country.
NDLEA spokesperson, Mr Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.
He said that NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway on Friday, May 16, arrested a 29-year-old suspect, Ismail Isah, who was found with an AK-47 rifle and two magazines hidden in a sack of maize.
Babafemi said the suspect would be handed over to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.
In a related operation in Taraba, 5,350 pills of tramadol and diazepam were recovered from a 22-year-old suspect, Shafiu Ismail. He was arrested on Thursday, May 15, at Sabon-layin in Jalingo Local Government Area.
On the same day in Jigawa, another suspect, Tijjani Mohammed, 35, was arrested at Malamawa with 198kg of skunk.
Also in Niger State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Carina vehicle with registration number AGL 945 BK along Mokwa-Jebba Road. The car was found to be transporting 316 blocks of skunk weighing 143kg. A suspect, Idris Kamal, 35, was apprehended.
Babafemi added that operatives at Chachi junction, along Kaduna Road, arrested a 26-year-old man, Emmanuel Hassan, with 14.3kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the actual owner of the consignment, one Bello Aliyu, also known as Liti, aged 39.
In Nasarawa State, NDLEA officers arrested a 60-year-old suspect, Welman Kengbo, with 594.8kg of skunk in the Karu area on May 16.
Similarly, in Lagos State, a suspect identified as Oyenuga Toheeb was nabbed along the Lekki/Epe Expressway with 67.5kg of the same substance.
Meanwhile, the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign continued across various states during the week.
WADA sensitisation lectures were held for students and staff of Supreme International School, Fagge, Kano; Al-Arifeen International Academy, Kaduna; and Nadado Primary School, Bakori, Katsina.
Other beneficiary schools included Ila Orangun Grammar School in Osun and Government Secondary School, Onne, Rivers State.
