Traditional ruler, ex-Boko Haram fighter arrested for drug trafficking

A rehabilitated ex-fighter of the Boko Haram terror group, Alayi Madu, and the traditional ruler of Kajola, a border community between Ondo and Edo states, Akinola Adebayo, have been arrested by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for drug trafficking.

The traditional ruler was arrested on Friday, March 10 after the NDLEA operatives stormed Kajola forest in Kajola community, where they destroyed three cannabis farms measuring 39.801546 hectares.

The 35-year-old traditional ruler of the community, who is the owner of the farms, was arrested on the farm at 2:30 a.m., while two other suspects believed to be his workers – Arikuyeri Abdulrahman, 23, and Habibu Ologun, 25 – were also nabbed in a hut near the farms.

This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.

Babafemi noted that the officers of the anti-drug agency also arrested a former Boko Haram fighter on Thursday, March 9 along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway with 10 kilograms of skunk, which the suspect said he bought in Ibadan, Oyo State, and was taking the consignment concealed in a sack to Maiduguri, Borno State.

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He disclosed that Madu, who was a Boko Haram fighter for 15 years before he surrendered to the military in 2021, in his statement, said he is from Banki town, Borno State, and joined the notorious terrorist group in 2006 when he was nine years old.

According to Babafemi, the ex-Boko Haram member 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 commercial motorcycle rider (Okada rider) before going into drug trafficking and his eventual arrest along Abuja-Kaduna express road,” the NDLEA spokesman added.

In his reaction, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the officers of the anti-drug agency for their diligence and commitment to work.

Marwa also charged them and their compatriots across other commands not to rest on their oars.

The Star