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By Emmanuel Adeleke
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a rehabilitated ex-Boko Haram fighter, Alayi Madu, for alleged drug trafficking.
A statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said that the 26-year-old Madu was intercepted and arrested on Thursday, along Abuja-Kaduna express way with 10 kilogrammes of skunk.
According to the statement, Madu was said to have bought the illegal drug in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, 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.
“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-radicalisation 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 (Okada rider) before going into drug trafficking and his eventual arrest along Abuja-Kaduna express road,” the statement read.
The agency also said it arrested the traditional ruler of Kajola, a border town between Ondo and Edo State, Akinola Adebayo, for drug trafficking.
The arrests, according to the statement, were part of the 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 owner of the farms who claimed 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,” the statement added