‘Repentant’ Boko Haram Terrorist Arrested For Drug Trafficking

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a man who confessed to being a repentant Boko Haram terrorist with illegal drugs.

Naija News understands that Alayi Madu was among other criminals apprehended recently by the federal government agency.

During its recent operation across the country ahead of March 18 governorship election, NDLEA said it arrested Madu and the traditional ruler of Kajola, a border community between Ondo and Edo state, Baale Akinola Adebayo at Lagos Airport.

In a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday (today), the Director of Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said that officers of the agency, in the early hours of Friday, stormed Kajola forest in Kajola community, a border town between Edo and Ondo state where they destroyed three cannabis farms measuring 39.801546 hectares.

According to him, the owner of the farms who claims to be the Ba’ale of Kajola, Akinola Adebayo, was arrested on the farm at 2:30 am, while two other suspects believed to be his workers: Arikuyeri Abdulrahman and Habibu Ologun were also nabbed in a hut near the farms.

Naija News understands that Madu was among the 37 persons arrested. Over 2.2 tons of illicit drugs were reportedly seized by operatives during the raid across 12 states in the past week.

In his confession, Madu revealed that he was a rehabilitated ex-fighter of the Boko Haram terror group. He disclosed that he was a Boko Haram fighter for 15 years before surrendering to the Nigerian military in 2021.

Babafemi explained that NDLEA operatives intercepted Madu on 9th March along Abuja-Kaduna’s road with 10 kilograms of skunk, which he said he bought in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, and was taking the consignment concealed in a sack to Maiduguri, Borno state.

Speaking further, Madu said he is from Banki town, Borno State, and joined the notorious terrorist organisation in 2006 when he was nine years old and that he repented and surrendered to the military in 2021, after which he underwent rehabilitation and de-radicalization 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 a commercial motorcycle rider (Okada rider) before going into drug trafficking and his eventual arrest along Abuja-Kaduna express road.

At the Lagos airport, Babafemi said, operatives acting on intelligence intercepted a consignment of 11.90 kilograms of heroin and 500grams of skunk concealed in deep freezers, which were part of a cargo that arrived from South Africa on 7th March onboard Ethiopian airline via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Agency’s sniffer dogs were deployed to locate where the illicit drugs were hidden in the cargo and in no time, they identified the cartons packed in the deep freezers.

Babafemi said a total of four suspects that played active roles in the movement of the drugs and a truck driver have been arrested so far in connection with the seizure.

He said they include Dairo Quam; Oluwaseun Ogunmene; Adeleke Abdulrasaq; Bamidele Adewale and Oluwafemi Ogunmeru.