NDLEA arrests ex-Boko Haram fighter, traditional ruler for ‘drug trafficking’

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested Alayi Madu, a rehabilitated ex-Boko Haram fighter, for alleged drug trafficking.

In a statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, its spokesperson, the NDLEA said 26-year-old Madu was intercepted and arrested on Thursday, along Abuja-Kaduna express road with 10 kilogrammes of skunk.

Madu was said to have bought the illegal drug in Ibadan, Oyo state, and was taking the consignment concealed in a sack to Maiduguri, Borno state.

“Madu said he is from Banki town in Borno and joined the notorious terrorist organisation in 2006 when he was nine years old,” Babafemi said.

“He said he repented and surrendered to the military in 2021, after which he underwent rehabilitation and de-radicalisation processes at Umaru Shehu rehabilitation centre, Maiduguri, and Malam Sidi de-radicalization centre, Gombe, before he was discharged after spending six months.

“Thereafter, he traveled to Ibadan, Oyo state, where he worked as a commercial motorcycle rider (Ookada rider) before going into drug trafficking and his eventual arrest along Abuja-Kaduna express road.”

The agency said it also arrested Akinola Adebayo, the traditional ruler of Kajola, a border town between Ondo and Edo, for drug trafficking.

Babafemi said the arrests were part of ongoing operations to mop up illicit drugs across the country ahead of the next round of elections.

“As part of ongoing operations to mop up illicit drugs across the country ahead of the next round of elections, NDLEA officers in the early hours of Friday, March 10, stormed Kajola forest in Kajola community, a border town between Edo and Ondo state where they destroyed three cannabis farms measuring 39.801546 hectares,” the NDLEA spokesperson said.

“The owner of the farms who claims to be the Ba’ale of Kajola, Akinola Adebayo, 35, was arrested on the farm at 2:30am.

“Two other suspects believed to be his workers: Arikuyeri Abdulrahman, 23, and Habibu Ologun, 25, were also nabbed in a hut near the farms.”