Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested the Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in Ijero local government area of Ekiti state, Babatunde Babade, 45, along with two others; Ilesanmi Shola, 35, and Babajide Johnson, 45, for trafficking illicit drug.
A statement issued today, Sunday by the Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi said following intelligence that Mr. Babade, was transporting bags of the banned drug in his 1997 model blue Mazda car with registration number: Ekiti JER194 AE from Akure to Ekiti state, he was apprehended with 52.5 kilograms of skunk in Akure, the Ondo state capital.
Babade, also known as BB, was taken into custody with others shortly after his arrest at around 2 p.m. on Sunday, for questioning. He stated in his statement that he owns the car used to transport the narcotics. He went on to say that the car was previously stopped by security authorities, who captured two other suspects, his car, and eight bags containing cannabis sativa, while his brother, who was driving, fled.
He said, however, that after his intervention, the security agents released the suspects and his car to him after removing two of the eight bags carrying the drug and sixty thousand naira (N60, 000) from him, and that he subsequently ran into NDLEA officers while returning to Ekiti.
Meanwhile, officers from the Agency’s Benue state command apprehended another suspected interstate drug trafficker, Odinaka Ugwuanyi, 29, along Apir road in Makurdi with 124,000 Tramadol, Diazepam, and Exol-5 tablets weighing 22.55 kg.
The suspect, who was apprehended in a commercial truck about 8 a.m. on Saturday, said he is from Enugu state’s Nsukka local government area. However, he claimed that another passenger in the vehicle who sat next to him abandoned the bag holding the drugs with him and ran upon sighting NDLEA officers.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, has praised the tenacity of the agency’s commanders, officers, and men in the ongoing onslaught against drug barons, traffickers, and peddlers in Ondo and Benue states. He urged them, as well as their colleagues in other commands, to be steadfast in carrying out their constitutional duties.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended the doggedness of the commanders, officers and men of the Ondo and Benue state Commands of the Agency in the ongoing offensive action against drug barons, traffickers and peddlers. He charged them along with their colleagues in other commands to remain resolute in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities.
