By Christopher Oji
Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA ) cheated death Monday night from the hands of yet-be-identified security agents who opened fire on them on Awolowo road, Lagos.
The security agents fired gunshots at the NDLEA officials with the intention of releasing the driver of a truck loaded with hard drugs under the trail of the NDLEA.
The timely intervention of some Soldiers saved the situation as the gunmen, and the driver abandoned the truck and escaped.
The gunshoots shattered the windscreen of one of the NDLEA vehicles which they used to barricade the truck.
At a maiden briefing at the NDLEA’s Lagos office in Gbagada, the new Lagos State Commander, Mr Umar Adoro, told how his men escaped death by the whiskers, “We got intelligence concerning the truck loaded with drugs, so, we ambushed the truck.
“We knew when they finished loading, and when they started their movement, and we accosted the truck on Awolowo road, as that would determine whether the drugs was being conveyed to the mainland or offshore .
“Unfortunately, we were distracted, because when the truck driver, and the vehicle were intercepted, an unidentified security agents appeared and insisted that we should allow the truck to continue its’ movement. Before we knew what was happening, the security agents started shooting in the air, which attracted the Army from the Medical Corp.
“They reinforced our officers, before reinforcement came from my office. But the unidentified security agency took the driver, and escaped with him. But we successfully got the truck.
“Our officers’ vehicle that was used to barricade the truck was damaged by the truck driver and unidentified security agent who shot at our men.”
He said 51 suspects were arrested, while 7,295.103 Kilograms of various drugs were recovered within one month,” out of the 51 suspects arrested in 10 raids, 41 were males, while 10 were females. Also, we secured 122 convictions, with 117 cases still pending before the Federal High court, last year.
He identified Akala in Mushin; Agege, Lagos Island, Ikorodu, Epe, Ajah ,and Festac Town, as areas in Lagos, with the highest arrest, adding that a suspected drug baron was arrested yesterday morning in the Festac area of the state.
He disclosed that owing to the heat on drug peddlers, dealers had resorted to using dispatch riders to convey drugs to ready buyers across the state.
