The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of long-wanted drug kingpin Lekan Jimoh, popularly known as “Kanmo-Kanmo,” bringing an end to a 12-year manhunt linked to the brutal killing of three NDLEA officers.
NDLEA announced that Kanmo-Kanmo, notorious for drug trafficking, evading arrest and mobilizing armed thugs against security agents, was arrested on Friday after he was tracked to his hideout in Owode town, Ogun State, by tactical teams of the agency.
This was made known in a statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja.
Babafemi disclosed that during the operation, the suspect was found in possession of 69 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis.
He stated that the arrest marks a significant breakthrough in the agency’s commitment to ensuring that no fugitive, regardless of how long they evade justice, remains beyond the reach of the law.
Lekan Jimoh’s criminal history is marked by extreme violence and lawlessness. On 15th June 2014, he orchestrated a barbaric mob action against a team of NDLEA officers who had attempted to arrest him at his enclave.
The attack resulted in the cold-blooded murder of three NDLEA officers, including Rabiu Usman Kazaure and two others, who were killed by armed thugs mobilized by Jimoh.
While the suspect managed to escape the scene that day, the agency remained resolute in its pursuit of justice for the fallen heroes.
In another encounter with Jimoh on 12th August 2023, when NDLEA operatives stormed his residence in Ado-Odo town, Ogun State, he managed to escape while operatives succeeded in recovering 139 sacks of skunk with a total weight of 1,922 kilograms.
Following assets forfeiture proceedings instituted in court by the agency, the house in Ado-Odo, which served as a warehouse for his illicit drug trade, has since been finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Edo State on Tuesday raided the Arokpa forest, Uzebba town, Owan West LGA, leading to the arrest of another drug lord, Isihor Edika, 53, and seizure of 320kg skunk and seeds.
Similarly, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, operatives on Friday tracked and arrested a 44-year-old lady Yinka Agboola following intelligence on her online sale of illicit substances.
At the time of her arrest, 2.2kg skunk and litres of cannabis oil which she produces in her kitchen and sells through online advertisement were recovered from her home at the Kaura district, Abuja.
Another suspect, Tordue Pius Richard, 30, was on Tuesday 13th January arrested with 148.3 grams of cocaine and skunk at his 12 Biskira street, Abacha Estate, Abuja home.
While 118.1kg skunk was seized from the duo of Dauda Kareem and Saheed Obisesan at Fadeyi area of Mushin Lagos on Friday 16th January, not less than 116kg of same substance was recovered from a warehouse at new market area of Enugu, Enugu State, same day.
Two suspects, Zaharadeen Yahaya, 25, and Sanusi Maman, 23, were on Thursday 15th January arrested by NDLEA operatives along Onitsha-Asaba expressway, Delta State, while conveying 410,800 pills of tramadol; 84.2 litres of codeine syrup; 82,250 tablets of diazepam; 900 tabs of swinol and 65 pills of molly.
In Oyo State, Adetunji Ahmed Abayomi, 33, was nabbed on Thursday 15th January at Moniya, Ibadan, with 321 litres of skuchies, and 2.5kg colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, while Rasheed Ajao, 28, was caught same day at Odo-Ona, Ibadan, in possession of 5.4kg Scottish loud; 1.696kg skunk and 2.5kg colorado, bringing the total weight to 9.696 kilograms.
In another raid at Agbeni area of the state capital, on Saturday 17th January, 52,430 pills of tramadol and bromazepam were recovered from the store of one Orji Edwin, currently at large.
In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 13th January raided a residential building at Gamo area of Ilorin where they seized 42 bags of skunk that weighed 387.40kg, while a total of 157,519 bottles of codeine syrup were discovered in a container at the Apapa Port in Lagos during a joint examination of the shipment by NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies on Friday.
An ex-convict, Gaddafi Ammani, 26, was arrested with various quantities of skunk and exol-5 pills along his accomplice Ahmed Sani, 32, at Nassarawa GRA, Ringim LGA Jigawa State, on Saturday.
Before Gaddafi’s arrest, he attempted to escape by climbing the roofs of many houses. He was armed with a machete which he used to threaten NDLEA operatives and even inflicted injury on one of the officers.
While commending the officers and men of the Ogun, Lagos, Apapa, Edo, Delta, Oyo, FCT, Enugu, and Kwara Commands for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, rtd, acknowledged their commitment and enjoined them as well as their colleagues nationwide to maintain the current tempo of their balanced approach to the agency’s drug control efforts.
He described the arrest of Kanmo-kanmo as a triumph of justice and a testament to the agency’s long memory, adding that the arrest sends a clear and unambiguous message to all drug barons and fugitives.
