The village head of Kajola, a border town between Ondo State and Edo, Baale Akunola Adebayo has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for alleged drug trafficking.
Also arrested was a rehabilitated ex-fighter of the Boko Haram terror group, Alayi Madu for alleged drug trafficking.
According to a statement by the Director, of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Mr. Femi Babafemi on Sunday in Abuja, the arrests were part of ongoing operations to mop up illicit drugs across the country ahead of the next round of elections.
Femi said that NDLEA officers in the early hours of Friday, March 10, stormed the Kajola forest in the Kajola community, a border town between Edo and Ondo state where they destroyed three cannabis farms, measuring 39.801546 hectares.
“The owner of the farms who claims to be the Ba’ale of Kajola, Akinola Adebayo, 35, was arrested on the farm at 2:30 am.
“Two other suspects believed to be his workers: Arikuyeri Abdulrahman, 23, and Habibu Ologun, 25, were also nabbed in a hut near the farms.
“Also, a 26-year-old Alayi Madu, who was a Boko Haram fighter for 15 years before he surrendered to the Nigerian military in 2021, was intercepted by NDLEA operatives.”
Babafemi said the suspect was arrested on Thursday, March 9 along Abuja-Kaduna express road with 10 kilograms of skunk.
According to him, he said he bought it in Ibadan, Oyo state, and was taking the consignment concealed in a sack to Maiduguri, Borno.
“In his statement, Madu said he is from Banki town in Borno and joined the notorious terrorist organization in 2006 when he was nine years old.
“He said he repented and surrendered to the military in 2021, after which he underwent rehabilitation and de-radicalization processes at Umaru Shehu rehabilitation center, Maiduguri, and Malam Sidi de-radicalization center, Gombe, before he was discharged after spending six months.
“Thereafter, he traveled to Ibadan, Oyo state where he worked as a commercial motorcycle rider (Okada rider) before going into drug trafficking and his eventual arrest along Abuja-Kaduna express road, ” he said.
