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NDLEA Declares India-Based Nigerian Couple Wanted
NDLEA has declared an India-based Nigerian couple wanted.
JomogNews reports that a couple, Kazeem Omogoriola Owoalade and Rashidat Ayinke Owoalade have been declared wanted for running a cocaine cartel from India by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
This online news platform understands that disclosing this in a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said four members of the syndicate were arrested in Lagos, where a Sports Utility Vehicle was recovered and two houses traced to them were sealed for forfeiture to the Federal Government.
“A couple, Kazeem Omogoriola Owoalade (alias Abdul Qassim Adisa Balogun) and Rashidat Ayinke Owoalade (alias Bolarinwa Rashidat Ayinke), who runs a cocaine cartel from India has been declared wanted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency following the arrest of four members of the syndicate in Lagos where a Sports Utility Vehicle was recovered and two houses already traced to them sealed for forfeiture to the Federal Government,” the statement read.
“Two members of the syndicate: Imran Taofeek Olalekan and Ishola Isiaka Olalekan were arrested on April 3, 2024, following their bid to export 3.40kg cocaine on a Qatar Airlines flight going to Oman through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos.
“While Imran was the courier conveying the drug consignment to Oman, Ishola recruited him for the head of the cartel, which investigation has now revealed to be Alhaji Kazeem Omogoriola Owoalade whose Indian residence permit bears Abdul Qassim Adisa Balogun based in India.
“Efforts to dismantle his network in Nigeria paid off after five weeks of surveillance and follow-up operations when another member of the syndicate, Hamed Abimbola Saheed, who works directly with the baron was arrested on Tuesday 14th May at Abule Egba area of Lagos. It was indeed Saheed who lodged Imran in a hotel a day before his aborted trip to Oman and equally dropped him and Ishola at the Lagos airport the day they were arrested.”
See the full statement below:
NDLEA declares couple wanted, arrests 4 cartel members over cocaine seizures
Intercepts China, UK-bound drug consignments concealed in steel bolts, shea butter; recovers 2,025 explosives in Niger, Kano, Sokoto; arrests 70-year-old grandpa in Borno for dealing in illicit drugs
A couple, Kazeem Omogoriola Owoalade (alias Abdul Qassim Adisa Balogun) and Rashidat Ayinke Owoalade (alias Bolarinwa Rashidat Ayinke), who runs a cocaine cartel from India has been declared wanted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA following the arrest of four members of the syndicate in Lagos where a Sports Utility Vehicle was recovered and two houses already traced to them sealed for forfeiture to the Federal Government.
Two members of the syndicate: Imran Taofeek Olalekan and Ishola Isiaka Olalekan were arrested on April 3, 2024 following their bid to export 3.40kg cocaine on a Qatar Airlines flight going to Oman through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos.
While Imran was the courier conveying the drug consignment to Oman, Ishola recruited him for the head of the cartel, which investigation has now revealed to be Alhaji Kazeem Omogoriola Owoalade whose Indian residence permit bears Abdul Qassim Adisa Balogun based in India. Efforts to dismantle his network in Nigeria paid off after five weeks of surveillance and follow up operations when another member of the syndicate, Hamed Abimbola Saheed who works directly with the baron was arrested on Tuesday 14th May at Abule Egba area of Lagos. It was indeed Saheed who lodged Imran in a hotel a day before his aborted trip to Oman and equally dropped him and Ishola at the Lagos airport the day they were arrested.
During a search of Hamed house, NDLEA operatives recovered some phenacetine, a cutting agent for Cocaine, weighing 900 grams. He confessed that the recovered substance was what was left of the consignment Imran was taking to Oman the day he was arrested.
His arrest led to a follow up operation at the home of the Owoalade couple at 20 Eyiaro street, Ogudu Orioke, Lagos where another suspect was arrested and a new model Toyota RAV4 SUV marked FKJ-773 JJ belonging to Rashidat and additional 400 grams of Cocaine recovered in addition to already prepared suitcases to be used for illicit drug concealment, digital weighing scales and other paraphernalia.
In the same vein, NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations, DOGI, attached to a courier firm in Lagos on Wednesday 15th May intercepted two parcels, containing Cocaine and Amphetamine concealed in steel bolts and shea butter. While the cocaine weighing 587 grams, was concealed in eight steel bolt screws going to China, the Amphetamine consignment packed in vape pens and hidden in shea butter was going to the United Kingdom.
Attempt by Emeka Nwadiaro (a.k.a Mega) to export 3.6kg Loud, a strain of cannabis concealed in 36 water flasks to Dubai, UAE was also thwarted at a logistic company in Port Harcourt, Rivers state on Thursday 16th May while a swift follow up operation led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Emeka Nwadiaro in Onitsha, Anambra state same day.
While NDLEA operatives in Lagos intercepted a mercedes benz bus loaded with 840kg cannabis and arrested the driver, Samuel Henry, at Olojo in Ojo LGA, Lagos, another suspect, Lawal Adam was nabbed along Otukpo road, Aliade, Benue state on Friday 17th May with 75,000 pills of opioids including tramadol and exol-5. Two suspects: Olisa Etisi, 32, and Jonathan Umeh, 25, were arrested along Owerri – Onitsha road, Imo state following the discovery by NDLEA operatives of a big gas cyclinder used to conceal six blocks of Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 3.85kg.
In Borno state, 70-year-old Adamu Mohammed was arrested at Mbulamel, Biu LGA on Thursday 16th May with 2kg cannabis and 33.55grams of diazepam, while Gaddafi Sani, 27, was arrested with 30 kilograms of cannabis along Abuja-Kaduna road, Kaduna.
In Yobe state, a consignment of 91.1kg opioids and 13kg cannabis going to Maiduguri, Borno state, was recovered from hidden compartments of a petrol tanker along Potiskum-Damaturu road by NDLEA officers who arrested the driver, Ismaila Ali.
No less than four suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 2,025 pieces of improvised explosive devices (IED) materials intercepted in a Toyota hummer bus marked AGL 905 XX by NDLEA officers along Agaie – Lapai road, Niger state. While the duo of Abdulrauf Shitu Adeyemi, 46, and Asmiyu Rahim, 45, conyeying the IED materials were arrested on the spot, follow up operations led to the arrest of Husaini Abdullahi, 25, at Sokoto main market, Sokoto and Nazifi Abdullahi, 37, at Naibawa Motor Park, Kano on Friday 17th May. The Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has directed that all four suspects and the explosive materials be transferred to the appropriate security agency for further investigation. In another operation, Muhammad Lawal, 42, was nabbed at Central Market Motor Park, Katsina State with 1,000 Ampoules of Pentazocine injection.
A total of 105kg cannabis was on Friday 17th May recovered from a house at Obola community, Owan West LGA, Edo state and a suspect, Gloria Oris arrested when NDLEA officers raided the area. In Kwara state, two suspects: Abdulganiyu Karaman, 55, and Sunday Abel, 37, were on Saturday 18th May arrested with 83kg cannabis and tramadol at Boriya, Baruten LGA, and Offa respectively.
With the same vigour, the various commands of the Agency across the country continued with the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign in the past week. Some of them include: WADA sensitisation lecture for students and teachers of Government Girls Science secondary school, Malumfashi and Government Girls Science Secondary School, Daudawa, Katsina; Government Girls Science College, Tunga Magajiya Rijau LGA, Niger state; students and teachers of St. Theresa’s College Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Oyo state; students of Government Girls Secondary School, Tudun Wada, Kano; students of Dein secondary school, Imobi secondary school and St. Columbas Grammar School, Agbor, Delta State.
While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Rivers, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Yobe, Borno, Niger, Benue, Kwara, Imo, and Edo Commands of the Agency as well as those of DOGI for their outstanding feats in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) said the efforts have further affirmed the cardinal role of NDLEA in the security architecture of the country. He equally applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures to create a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 19th May 2024
Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, has asked Nigerians to pray for political leaders, stating that politicians are the primary cause of the country’s challenges.
Speaking on Sunday at the thanksgiving service to mark Oyo state’s 50th anniversary at the Cathedral of St. Peter Anglican Church, Aremo, Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, Obi said politicians are responsible for the country’s challenges.
“I want to make a request from Nigerians. Do remember us politicians in your prayers. We are the problem of Nigeria, no other person,” he said.
“Nigeria is not a poor country, it is poorly governed. Remember us in your prayers that God should touch our hearts to use public money for public good. That is what is required.”
In a post on X after the event, Obi thanked Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo state, for the opportunity to speak at the service.
He recalled that at the beginning of Makinde’s administration, the governor invited him to address the maiden executive council (exco) retreat, where they spent a full day discussing governance and leadership.
“I am pleased to note that the governor has remained consistent in his approach. Beyond the visible infrastructure across the state, his performance is widely discussed and appreciated by Oyo people wherever they are,” Obi said.
The former Anambra governor also commended Makinde for his remarks at the thanksgiving service, particularly on building strong institutions rather than relying on individuals.
“His focus on continuity, systems, and shared responsibility reflects a statesmanlike vision and offers reassurance that the progress of Oyo State will be sustained beyond any single administration,” he added.
Obi further thanked Williams Aladekugbe, bishop of Ibadan north, for what he described as a timely and profound sermon.
“He reminded us that thanksgiving is not merely a ritual but a moral discipline that nurtures humility, responsibility, and service to the common good,” Obi said.
He called on residents of Oyo state to continue supporting the governor and to pray that God would guide leaders to work for the common good of the state and its people.
President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, following his posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tinubu described Fela as more than a musician, calling him a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom and a revolutionary force who confronted injustice through music.
The president said Fela’s courage, creativity and conviction defined a generation and continued to inspire audiences across the world.
In a tribute issued on Sunday in Abuja, Tinubu said Fela’s legacy had transcended time, describing him as eternal in cultural and spiritual relevance.
He noted that Fela became the first African to receive the Recording Academy of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, though posthumously.
The president said the honour affirmed Fela’s enduring global influence and the foundational role he played in shaping modern music from Africa.
Tinubu said Fela defined Afrobeat, with his influence evident across generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and global sounds.
“He defined Afrobeat, and you can hear and see his influence in generations of Nigerian musicians and in Afrobeats and beyond.
“Fela lives,” the president said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
The Federal Government is scheduled to arraign suspects linked to the Yelwata killings on Monday in Abuja, with the Attorney General of the Federation finalizing the charges.
Justice Abdul-Malik is expected to preside over the arraignment at the Federal High Court.
This was disclosed in a statement released to journalists on Sunday by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
According to the statement, the accused persons will be brought before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, following what it described as “after a painstaking investigation and collaboration by government agencies.”
“The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice wishes to assure Nigerians that justice will be ensured in the matter, to send a strong signal to the enemies of the country acting under any disguise.”
The statement, signed by the media aide to the AGF, Mr. Kamarudeen Ogundele, further noted that “The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to the protection of the lives and property of all, as enshrined in the Constitution.”
The Yelwata killings took place in June 2025 in the Yelwata community, located in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.
The violence reportedly started late on June 13, 2025, and spilled into the early hours of June 14, when suspected armed herdsmen launched coordinated attacks on residential buildings, a local market, and a Catholic mission.
During the assault, houses were torched, victims were brutally mutilated, and the attackers exchanged gunfire with security operatives.
Reports indicate that more than 100 people lost their lives, while approximately 3,000 residents were forced to flee their homes.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had earlier condemned the massacre and directed security and law enforcement agencies to track down those responsible and ensure they are prosecuted.
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