Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a former two-term councillor in Lagos State, Sheleru Sadiq Olalekan, over alleged involvement in illicit drug trafficking.
The 45-year-old former councillor, who represented the Orimedu community in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Council and currently serves as a legislative aide, was arrested on Monday, March 2, 2026, at his residence in Ilado, Ibeju-Lekki.
Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA in a statement on Sunday said officers who searched his residence reportedly recovered 40 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, from one of the rooms in the house.
In his statement to investigators, Sheleru admitted ownership of the drugs and the property where they were recovered.
In a related operation in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, March 3, intercepted a 32-year-old businessman, Emeka Hyginus Okwor, in a vehicle travelling from Obollo-Afor in Enugu State to Zuba, Abuja.
A search of his luggage revealed 1,000 pills of tapentadol 250mg concealed inside baby diapers.
The suspect reportedly admitted ownership of the consignment and said he was transporting it to Guduwa Village in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, where he operates a provision store.
Also on March 3, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Kabba–Obajana highway in Kogi State intercepted a consignment of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 1.55 kilograms, concealed inside a standing fan carton.
The consignment belonged to a 36-year-old Cameroonian national, Mey Ali Muhamat, who hails from Maroua in the Republic of Cameroon.
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He was travelling in a commercial bus from Lagos to Cameroon via Lokoja, Kano and Maiduguri when he was apprehended.
In Niger State, operatives on patrol along the Mokwa–Jebba Road on Wednesday, March 4, intercepted a commercial bus coming from Ibadan, Oyo State, with 500 pieces of improvised explosive device (IED) components concealed in a white sack meant for delivery to a recipient in Pelegi.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the intended recipient, Osama Abdullahi, 21, at Pelegi in Mashegu Local Government Area of the state.
Similarly, no fewer than 122,000 pills of tramadol and 700 grams of methamphetamine were recovered from the false bottom of a truck marked ENU 645XX conveying 2,000 cartons of local drinks during an operation by NDLEA operatives in Yola, Adamawa State on Wednesday, March 4.
In Kano State, a 20-year-old suspect, Muhammed Ali, was arrested at Gadar Tamburawa on Tuesday, March 3, with 11,283 pills of tramadol.
NDLEA operatives in Ogun State also raided Ogere community where two suspects — Nazifi Mudansir and Kabiru Musa — were arrested with 46 kilograms of skunk.
In Delta State, two suspects, Joy Chukwuma, 25, and Eugene Felix, 22, were arrested on Saturday, March 7, at Ogwashi-Uku with 18.63 kilograms of skunk, 10.8 litres of codeine-based syrup and 4,268 pills of tramadol and swinol.
Operatives in Edo State also arrested Eke London, 48, and his accomplice Austin Isusi, 49, at Egbisi forest in Uhumwonde Local Government Area where 1,910.25 kilograms of skunk was destroyed on two cannabis farms.
In another operation in the state, a suspect, Alaba Adeboye, 47, was arrested at Ikhin town in Owan East Local Government Area with 176.50 kilograms of skunk.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended officers and men of the Lagos, FCT, Kano, Niger, Kogi, Edo, Ogun, Delta and Adamawa commands for the arrests and seizures.
He urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control through enforcement and preventive sensitisation.
