Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman Lovely Chukwulobelu at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine which he ingested, to Portugal where he resides. 

In a statement made available to The Column by Femi Babafemi,

Director, Media and Advocacy

NDLEA,the groom was intercepted by NDLEA officers at the departure hall of the Enugu airport on Thursday 25th September 2026, with cocaine in his gut and wedding ring on his finger, while he attempted to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.

He was subsequently placed under excretion observation during which he egested a total of 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.

The suspect, who claimed he was into car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos before he relocated to Portugal in May 2023, said he returned to Nigeria recently to get married on 13th September 2026. He said he resorted to the criminal trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.

At the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 22nd September 2026 uncovered one of the year’s biggest opioid hauls during a joint examination of three monitored consignments, leading to the seizure of Two Million Five Hundred and Fifty-Five Thousand (2,550,000 ) pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 1,640.55 kilograms.

The consignments, were imported from India and Bangladesh via Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and Ethiopian Airlines.

In Bauchi, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects: Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass with 300 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 262.5kg, concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH, while two cannabis farms with a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo state were destroyed by NDLEA officers supported by soldiers on Wednesday 23rd September.

In Lagos, two female suspects: Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested on Saturday 26th September when NDLEA operatives raided Anifowoshe Street in Mushin where they recovered 3.4kg skunk from them.

In another operation in Lagos same day, NDLEA officers intercepted a 58-year-old man Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park, with large quantities of illicit consignments, including: 5.920kg skunk; 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection; 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam; and 40,000 pills of tramadol.

Two Togolese nationas: Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were nabbed by NDLEA officers on Saturday 26th September at Iganna-Ilero road, Iganna, Oyo state with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pick-up vans used for cross-border trafficking racket, moving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.

At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five suspects were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide popularly called laughing gas weighing 1,688.4kg, along with two vehicles used in conveying the exhibit from the border into Lagos.

They include: Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.

With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA sensitization lecture to students and staff of Community High School, Saki, Oyo state; Auchi College, Auchi, Edo; Alkali Modibbo Islamic Centre, Dukku, Gombe; and Junior Arabic Secondary School, Kahu, Kibiya LGA, Kano, while the Delta Ports Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatshe III, the Olu Of Warri, Delta state, among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme, and Bauchi Commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.

Two inmates have died in a cholera outbreak at the Kurmawa Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kano State.

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) confirmed this in a statement, on Saturday.

According to the Service’s spokesman, Chief Superintendent of Corrections, JN Osuji, laboratory tests conducted on September 23 confirmed the outbreak.

He said the outbreak was first detected on September 17 after an inmate developed symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea.

He said the inmate was immediately admitted and treated at the facility’s medical centre, while emergency health protocols were activated the following morning.

“The Nigerian Correctional Service has confirmed that a cholera outbreak at the Kurmawa Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kano has been contained.

The outbreak was confirmed on 23rd September by the Service’s medical team and Kano State public health authorities.”

“The Service says the first case was detected on 17th September, when an inmate presented with vomiting and diarrhoea and was immediately admitted and treated at the facility’s medical centre

Two people have died — one at the custodial centre and another at the Kano State Infectious Diseases Hospital.

“The Controller-General of Corrections, Sylvester Nwakuche, directed sustained medical intervention, monitoring and preventive measures in collaboration with the Kano State Government.

“The Service says no further deaths have been recorded since the outbreak was confirmed.”

The NCoS said its intervention had brought the outbreak under control, adding that no additional deaths had been recorded since the diagnosis.

It said further preventive measures had been introduced in collaboration with the Kano State Government to prevent a recurrence.

Nwakuche also directed a team of senior medical personnel from the NCoS National Headquarters to proceed to the facility for continued monitoring.ed.

The Service reassured the public that inmates continued to have access to healthcare through qualified medical personnel and urged the public to rely on verified information from official sources regarding the outbreak.

The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Police Command has arrested a woman, Mrs Rukayat Muhammed, in connection with the death of a man whose body was later found dumped along the Kubwa Expressway.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Sanusi, disclosed this on Saturday during a press conference in Abuja.

Sanusi said the suspect and the deceased had lodged at Good Samaritan Guest House on 2nd Avenue, Gwarimpa, to spend time together before the man died.

He said the suspect allegedly failed to raise the alarm after discovering that the deceased was no longer breathing, but instead left the hotel with his mobile phone.

According to the CP, the deceased’s lifeless body was discovered on August 26, 2026, along the Kubwa Expressway by Katampe under the bridge, amid concerns over the circumstances surrounding his death.

He said the incident was initially suspected to be a possible “one chance” case, while the deceased’s family had earlier reported him missing.

“When the lifeless body was subsequently discovered by the roadside, our investigators began working to establish whether it could be connected to the earlier missing person report.

“Through painstaking investigation, we were led to ultimately confirm that the deceased was the same person whose disappearance had earlier been reported by his family,” Sanusi said.

The police boss said investigators discovered that the deceased’s mobile phone was missing and began tracking the device.

Although the phone had been switched off, investigators reportedly established the last person with whom the deceased had communicated, leading to the identification and arrest of Rukayat, a resident of Garki Area 2.

Sanusi said further investigation revealed that the suspect, a married woman, was allegedly in a romantic relationship with the deceased and had saved his contact on her phone as “Safiyat.”

He said the investigation also established that the suspect and the deceased had lodged at the Good Samaritan Guest House, where they spent some time together.

“The suspect informed us that she discovered the deceased was no longer breathing and had died. Rather than immediately reporting the incident to the Police, the suspect took the deceased’s mobile phone and left the hotel,” he said.

The CP added that several hours later, after hotel management could not establish contact with the occupants of the room, the deceased’s body was discovered inside the room.

However, instead of reporting the matter to the police, two members of the hotel management, identified as Ibrahim Omeiza and Kefat Bitrus, allegedly removed the body from the room and transported it to the Kubwa Expressway by Katampe under the bridge, where they dumped it by the roadside.

Sanusi said the action was apparently aimed at distancing the hotel and its management from the incident.

He stressed that an investigation into the case was ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

“Anyone found to have played a role in the death or subsequent concealment and abandonment of the body will be made to face the law,” the CP said.