Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a former councillor in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State, Sheleru Olalekan, over alleged involvement in illicit drug trafficking.
The 45-year-old suspect, who previously served two terms representing Orimedu community and currently works as a legislative aide, was arrested on March 2, 2026, at his residence in Ilado, Ibeju-Lekki.
In a statement on Sunday, the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said operatives recovered 40 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, from one of the rooms in the suspect’s house during a search.
Babafemi added that the suspect admitted ownership of the drugs and the house where they were recovered.
“He said he had previously served two terms as a councillor representing Orimedu community in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Council,” the spokesman stated.
In a separate operation in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), NDLEA officers on March 3 intercepted a 32-year-old businessman, Emeka Hyginus Okwor, travelling from Obollo-Afor in Enugu State to Zuba, Abuja.
A search of his luggage uncovered 1,000 pills of tapentadol 250mg concealed inside baby diapers. The suspect reportedly confessed that he was transporting the drugs to Guduwa village in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, where he operates a provision store.
Also on March 3, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Kabba–Obajana highway in Kogi State intercepted a consignment of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 1.55 kilograms, concealed inside a standing fan carton belonging to a 36-year-old Cameroonian, Mey Ali Muhamat.
Muhamat, who hails from Maroua in Cameroon, was travelling in a commercial bus from Lagos to Cameroon via Lokoja, Kano and Maiduguri when he was arrested.
In Niger State, NDLEA operatives on March 4 intercepted a commercial bus along the Mokwa–Jebba road coming from Ibadan, Oyo State, with 500 pieces of improvised explosive device (IED) components concealed in a sack.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the intended recipient, Osama Abdullahi, 21, in Pelegi, Mashegu Local Government Area.
In Adamawa State, operatives in Yola on the same day recovered 122,000 pills of tramadol and 700 grams of methamphetamine from a false compartment in a truck transporting 2,000 cartons of local drinks.
Similarly, officers arrested Muhammed Ali, 20, at Gadar Tamburawa in Kano State on March 3 with 11,283 pills of tramadol.
In Ogun State, operatives conducting a raid in Ogere arrested two suspects, Nazifi Mudansir and Kabiru Musa, with 46 kilograms of skunk.
In Delta State, two suspects — Joy Chukwuma, 25, and Eugene Felix, 22 — were arrested on March 7 in Ogwashi-Uku with 18.63 kilograms of skunk, 10.8 litres of codeine-based syrup, and 4,268 pills of tramadol and swinol.
NDLEA operatives also destroyed 1,910.25 kilograms of skunk on two farms in Egbisi Forest in Uhumwonde Local Government Area of Edo State, where two suspects — Eke London, 48, and Austin Isusi, 49 — were arrested.
Another suspect, Alaba Adeboye, 47, was apprehended in Ikhin town, Owan East Local Government Area, with 176.5 kilograms of skunk.
The agency said its commands nationwide have continued the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools and communities, including awareness programmes in secondary schools across Oyo, Niger, Zamfara, Lagos, Sokoto, Ebonyi, and Anambra states.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the Lagos, FCT, Kano, Niger, Kogi, Edo, Ogun, Delta, and Adamawa commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control efforts nationwide.
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