By Amofokhai Williams
In a seismic blow to Nigeria’s illicit drug trade, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has struck gold, apprehending the infamous drug lord Sunday Ibigide in a high-stakes operation in Asaba, Delta State, while smashing a staggering N7.8 billion opioid haul in Rivers.
The agency’s relentless crusade also saw 48,750kg of skunk torched in Enugu and Taraba forests, 538,980 tramadol pills seized across Kogi, Kaduna, and Gombe, and a mother-son drug trafficking duo nabbed in Lagos, signaling a nationwide crackdown that’s sending shockwaves through the underworld.
NDLEA‘s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a release on Sunday said after a heart-pounding three-year manhunt, 36-year-old Sunday Ibigide, a notorious drug baron who’d been dodging the law since March 2022, was finally cuffed by NDLEA operatives on August 10, 2025.
Caught red-handed in Asaba, Delta, Ibigide was attempting to move 250 blocks of skunk weighing a hefty 138kg in his distribution bus, alongside his 27-year-old aide, Clement Osuya.
The kingpin, linked to a 2022 seizure of 24.137kg of skunk and 10g of molly, thought he’d outsmarted the agency by going underground. But, as NDLEA’s Femi Babafemi declared, “No one escapes justice forever!” X posts erupted, with one user hailing, “NDLEA’s got Ibigide! The streets are safer tonight!”
In a blockbuster operation at Port Harcourt’s Onne Port, NDLEA, alongside Customs and other security agencies, intercepted a jaw-dropping 875,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N6.1 billion and 3.5 million pills of trodol benzhexol valued at N1.7 billion.
The haul, uncovered on August 13 and 14 at the West Africa Container Terminal, was tracked using NDLEA’s intelligence network, leaving traffickers reeling.
The NDLEA’s rampage didn’t stop there. In Enugu Ezike, Enugu State, operatives, backed by military and vigilantes, stormed three cannabis farms on August 14 and 15, torching 37,500kg of skunk across 15 hectares. Six suspects—Ugwuanyi Chinaso, 23; James Negedu, 26; Sopuruchukwu Obido, 22; Ebuka Onu, 30; Ukwueze Sunday, 42; and Oguche Friday—were nabbed, with 74.5kg of skunk recovered for their prosecution.
On August 16, Emmanuel Ayogu, 53, was caught with 20,700 tramadol and cocodamol pills along Nsukka Road, while Nsubechukwu Achidde, 24, and Osiaja Simple Frank, 41, were busted with 27.6kg of skunk at Enugu’s New Market.
In Taraba’s Tanmiya forest, 11,250kg of skunk went up in flames on August 12, with 29,840 tramadol capsules seized from 20-year-old Saleh Babangida in Wukari.
Across Kogi, Kaduna, and Gombe, NDLEA operatives confiscated 538,980 tramadol pills, including 337,800 from a bus driver, Sulaiman Oyedokun, 47, on the Okene-Lokoja highway, and 128,000 from Sani Mohammed, 32, in Gombe.
Kaduna saw Mohammed Amdife, 46, and Sulaiman Mohammed, 22, arrested with 22,640 tramadol and rohypnol pills, while Caroline David, 51, and Abdul Ascertain: The text you provided appears to be cut off mid-sentence.
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In Lagos, the NDLEA’s grip tightened as 52-year-old Muyibat Mumuni and her 25-year-old son, Faruk Mumuni, were arrested on August 13 at Ladega Street, Mushin, for storing and distributing 298 blocks of Ghana Loud weighing 149kg.
Another suspect, Emmanuel Samuel, was nabbed in Lekki’s Ajah area on August 15 with 8.5kg of the potent Canadian Loud strain, sending a clear message to traffickers: nowhere is safe.
The NDLEA’s operations were a whirlwind of destruction for drug networks. In Edo, 432kg of skunk was recovered from a bush along Warake-Auchi road on August 13, with another 130kg seized from a Sobe warehouse the next day.
In Kano, Tahiru Madu Manga, 25, and Ibrahim Audu, 47, were caught with 16kg and 76kg of skunk, respectively, along the Zaria-Kano road. At the Badagry-Lagos highway’s Gbaji checkpoint, 4,320 ampoules of ketamine injection were intercepted on August 11, with suspect Akeem Adegun in custody.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) hailed the operations as a triumph, urging his teams in Delta, Rivers, Lagos, Enugu, Taraba, Kogi, Kaduna, Gombe, Edo, Kano, and Seme to keep up the pressure.
“We’re dismantling these networks brick by brick,” Marwa declared.
