By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
A 93-year-old great grandpa and a 69-year-old medical doctor top the list of suspects arrested as operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intensified their offensive action and crackdown on drug cartels and their collaborators in intelligence-led interdiction operations across the country.
This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi,
Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters Abuja.
It said in one of such operations, a nonagenarian Pa Friday Ahukanna Chigbu was arrested at his home in Umuagbaigba, Amavo Nkwogu village, Osisioma local government area of Abia state on Tuesday 7th April 2026.
“A search of his residence led to the recovery of 7.7 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis. The suspect claimed he had worked as a truck pusher but later learnt painting and tiling before going into the illicit drug business over a year ago. He claimed he had been smoking skunk since 1959 before turning it into business.
“Efforts to unravel local collaborators of an international drug syndicate paid off following the arrest of an Ivorian, Gohouri Michael, 41, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano with 82 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.49kg and the subsequent arrest of a 69-year-old medical doctor, Dr. Chudi Daniel Ofomata in a follow-up operation in Ogun state.
“Michael Gohouri (also known as Anunwa Onyinye Michael) was arrested on Monday 16th February 2026 during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940 to Milan, Malpensa via Addis Ababa.
“Gohouri had arrived Lagos from Milan, Italy on 17th January, 2026 and was shuttling from Lagos to Enugu for three weeks. He later travelled to Kano where he stayed for a week before ingesting the cocaine consignment in his hotel room. He’s expected to be paid 5,000 Euros when he delivers the drugs in Milan.
“Further investigation by NDLEA revealed that Gohouri had a shadowy figure behind the scene, giving him instructions on how to move the cocaine consignment through the airport. The hidden figure behind Gohouri was eventually discovered to be Dr. Chudi Daniel Ofomata who was later tracked and traced to his residence at Teachers’ Land estate, Magboro, Obafemi Owode LGA, Ogun state where he was arrested on 27th March 2026 and flown to Kano on Tuesday 7th April. Recovered from him at the point of his arrest include 63grams of promazepam and 7 ampoules of promethazine injection.“
