Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a great-grandfather, Pa Friday Ahukanna Chigbu, and a medical doctor, Dr. Chudi Daniel Ofomata, for their involvement in drug trafficking, including skunk and cocaine.
Pa Chigbu, 93, was apprehended at his home in Umuagbaigba, Amavo Nkwogu Village, Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
The Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement made available to ThelensNG on Sunday.
“A search of his residence led to the recovery of 7.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis. The suspect claimed he had worked as a truck pusher but later learnt painting and tiling before going into the illicit drug business over a year ago. He claimed he had been smoking skunk since 1959 before turning it into business,” the statement said.
Following the arrest of an Ivorian, Gohouri Michael, 41, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) with 82 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.49 kg, a 69-year-old medical doctor, Dr. Chudi Daniel Ofomata, was nabbed in a follow-up operation in Ogun State.
Gohouri (also known as Anunwa Onyinye Michael) was arrested on Monday, February 16, 2026, during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940 to Milan, Malpensa, via Addis Ababa.
Babafemi revealed that Gohouri had arrived Lagos from Milan, Italy on January 17, 2026 and was shuttling from Lagos to Enugu for three weeks. “He later travelled to Kano where he stayed for a week before ingesting the cocaine consignment in his hotel room. He’s expected to be paid 5,000 Euros when he delivers the drugs in Milan.
“Further investigation by NDLEA revealed that Gohouri had a shadowy figure behind the scene, giving him instructions on how to move the cocaine consignment through the airport.
“The hidden figure behind Gohouri was eventually discovered to be Dr. Chudi Daniel Ofomata who was later tracked and traced to his residence at Teachers’ Land Estate, Magboro, Obafemi Owode LGA, Ogun State where he was arrested on 27th March 2026 and flown to Kano on Tuesday 7th April,” he noted.
Babafemi highlighted the items recovered from Dr. Ofomata, including 63 grams of promazepam and 7 ampoules of promethazine injection.
In another operation, three suspects — Azeez Sanni, Olayinka Oke, and Adekunle Adeyemi were arrested with 34 kilograms of skunk when NDLEA operatives raided Sango Underbridge, Sango Ota, Ogun State, on Tuesday, April 7, while 56.2kg of same substance was recovered from a female suspect, Ayoka Akinwale, 26, along Onitsha-Owerri Road, Owerri, Imo State, on Saturday, April 11.
Elsewhere (Niger State), NDLEA operatives on Thursday, April 9, arrested a couple — Abdullahi Umar, 32, and his wife Adama Umar, 25, during a search of their Takuti village, Lapai Local Government Area home, where 118 kilograms of skunk were recovered from their kitchen.
No fewer than 42,290 tablets of Rohypnol, 82,700 millilitres of codeine syrup, and 10,000 millilitres of pentazocine injection were recovered from a trailer loaded with vehicle spare parts coming from Nnewi, Anambra State, by NDLEA officers on patrol at Njimtilo along the Damaturu-Maiduguri road in Borno State. The owner of the consignment, Eleje Ibeabuchi, 43, was arrested in a follow-up operation.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives, acting on credible intelligence, on Tuesday, April 7, intercepted a Chisco Transport luxury bus marked AGU 442 XB, destined for Port Harcourt, Rivers State, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 15 kilograms of Scottish Loud (a strong strain of cannabis) concealed in one of the compartments of the bus. Consequently, two suspects identified as Kingsley Nsofor and Opara Ifeanyi were arrested.
Similarly, NDLEA officers on Saturday, April 11, at Mushin area of Lagos intercepted a truck conveying assorted goods destined for Onitsha, Anambra State. A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of 26,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup and the subsequent arrest of two suspects — Adesunloye Dada and Chibuzor Chime.
A raid of the Tora Bora notorious drug joint in Abuja by NDLEA operatives on Saturday, April 11, led to the arrest of eight suspects, Abubakar Muhammad, Ali Isiaka, Obed Moses, Ibrahim Musa, Attahiru Audu, Kabiru Buhari, Oloruntoba Samuel, and Ellah Gyandi. A total of 11.516 kilograms of skunk were seized from the suspects.
The statement added: “In Edo State, NDLEA operatives working on actionable intelligence on Saturday 11th April intercepted two long trucks marked LUY 172 XC and LUY 281 XC with bags of processed skunk concealed among cartons of beer along Warrake road, Auchi. One of the trucks was found to contain 3,900 kilograms of skunk, while the second had 3,345 kilograms, bringing the total weight to 7,245 kilograms.
“Five suspects arrested in connection with the seizure include: Ibrahim Abu, 29; Abu Abdullazeez, 28; Jibril Jaminu, 35; Andrew Moses, 22 and Ganiyu Abu, 21. The consignments were loaded at Sabongida-Ora in Owan West LGA and heading to Abuja when they were intercepted.”
In the same vein, the Agency’s Commands and formations continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities across the country in the past week.
The activities included WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of Child Best School, Ikorodu, Lagos; Government Science Secondary School, Ajaokuta, Kogi; Community Girls Secondary School, Danja, Katsina; Government Girls Secondary School, Dabo, Kano; drivers, passengers, and park workers at Oban-Aningheje motor park, Calabar, Cross River; and members of Anglican Youths Fellowship Diocese, Okinin, Osun State.
Commenting on the arrests and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the officers and men of the MAKIA, Abia, Lagos, Imo, Borno, Ogun, Niger, Edo, and FCT Commands for their professionalism and commitment.
Marwa also praised their counterparts in Commands across the country for maintaining a fair balance between drug supply and demand reduction efforts.
