NDLEA operatives reject N10 million bribe arrest Drug Suspect
On Sunday, operatives from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) revealed that they rejected a bribe of N10 million intended to secure the release of a drug suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, who was apprehended in Lagos.
During a thorough inspection of containers in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies at Tin Can Port in Lagos and Port Harcourt’s Onne port between October 22 and 23, NDLEA agents seized a staggering 26,250,000 pills of tramadol and 508,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup, with an estimated street value of N16.68 billion.
Eburajolo, a 40-year-old resident of the Ago Palace area in Okota, was arrested in connection with this significant drug haul. According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the attempted bribe has been documented as part of the evidence collected from the suspect.
The statement said, “Other illicit consignments intercepted during the joint inspection of the containers include 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol and 28 plastic drums of methamphetamine weighing 700kg at Tincan and Onne respectively, while 56 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 28kg, were also recovered from a container that arrived the Lagos port from Canada.”
“A suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, 40, was arrested at Ago Palace area of Okota Lagos in connection with the cannabis seizure while a bribe of N10m paid the NDLEA officers to free the suspect has been kept as part of the exhibits for the prosecution of the case.”
Babafemi disclosed that the NDLEA operatives also recovered no fewer than 293 ampoules of promethazine and pentazocine injection as well as 1.690kg cannabis and tramadol tablets concealed in hair attachments and soles of shoes going to the United States, United Kingdom and Oman at three courier firms.
“A total of 2,118 pills of tramadol concealed in soles of 13 pairs of shoes going to Cyprus were seized at the export shed of the Lagos airport on October 12, 2024, and an additional 380 tablets recovered from the home of the sender, Okenwa Kelvin Uchenna, during a follow-up operation in Enugu on Thursday, October 24,” he added.
He added that the NDLEA operatives in Lagos on Friday, October 25, raided the Igbo-Igunuko shrine, located at the Alfa Beach, Ajah, where jumbo bags of Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 2,760kg, were recovered.
“Two suspects, Gbenga Abiodun and Sunday Abiodun, were arrested. Another suspect, Ademola Oyelakin, was also arrested the same day with 770kg of the same psychoactive substance along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, “ he added.
Babafemi reported that a total of 11,786 pills—including tramadol, molly, Rohypnol, and diazepam—along with 64 bottles of codeine syrup, were found in an underground storage area at the home of Muhammad Abdullahi.
Abdullahi had excavated a space beneath his bedroom floor on Marwa Coastal Road in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, covering it with a padlocked iron slate and a rug, then placing his mattress on top to evade detection.
