By Chioma Iruke
Three armed bandits; Adamu Shehu, Tukur Mohammed and Ibrahim Suleiman have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) while on an attack mission in Katsina state, with three AK 47 rifles among other dangerous items recovered them.
In a statement by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the weapons manufacturer, Celestine Chidiebere Christian, was also arrested with a high calibre G3 rifle along with 78 rounds of life ammunition (RLA) of 7.62mm calibre, and five empty shells of same in Benue while trying to move the heavy weapon and ammunition to Jos, Plateau state.
The arrests and seizures were made at NDLEA checkpoints in the two states where narcotic officers stop and search vehicles for illicit drugs.
Speaking when the Benue state command was handing over the high calibre G3 rifle and the suspect to the agency’s national headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) noted that the NDLEA will continue to support efforts by other security agencies especially the armed forces to restore law and order across the country.
“For us at NDLEA, we’ll continue to do our best with our highly dedicated officers and men to cut off accessibility to illicit drugs by criminal gangs by blocking the trafficking of these psychoactive and psychotropic substances. In doing this, we’ll not shy away from complementing the efforts of other security agencies especially our armed forces in our collective bid to restore security and maintain law and order in all parts of the country”, Gen. Marwa stated.
According to him, “the three armed bandits were arrested by our officers on patrol in Malumfashi LGA of Katsina on Thursday 5th August, on their way from Igabi LGA of Kaduna state to Kankara LGA in Katsina for another devilish mission. A Toyota Corolla car with registration number Kaduna TRK 149 AE, three AK 47 rifles with magazines and ammunition, different types of charms, rings, cash and other items were recovered from them. I have since directed they be handed over to the Army Brigade in Katsina for further investigation”.
