The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have nabbed a traditional chief priest of the Igunuko Shrine, Bariu Aliu, in the Alpha Beach area of Ajah, Lagos State.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying Aliu’s arrest followed a three-month manhunt.
Also known as “Malo,” the suspect was arrested after 2,760 kilograms of skunk were recovered from his shrine on October 25, 2024.
Babafemi noted that though two of Bariu’s accomplices had been arrested, charged, and convicted last year, the chief priest was identified as the leader of the drug syndicate operating from the shrine.
“In Lagos, the traditional chief priest of the Igunuko shrine at Alpha Beach, Ajah Lekki, where 2,760 kg of skunk was recovered on October 25, 2024, Bariu Aliu (alias Malo), has been arrested by NDLEA operatives after a three-month manhunt,” the statement read.
“Though two of his accomplices were arrested at the shrine last year and subsequently charged and convicted in court, Bariu was identified as the syndicate leader.”
He also disclosed that operatives intercepted a 40-foot trailer loaded with 2,217.6 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, during an intelligence-led operation in the Kagini area of Kubwa, Abuja.
The agency’s spokesman stated that the drugs were meant for onward distribution to some northern states.
“The intelligence-led operation, which took place at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2025, led to the seizure of the large illicit consignment, the trailer, six vehicles—comprising a Toyota Van, Toyota Camry, Toyota Sienna, a JAC 4-wheel-drive Hilux, a Toyota Corolla, and a Vento Passat—and the arrest of a suspect, 42-year-old Isaac Monday Desmond.
“The consignment was loaded onto the trailer at Uzebba in the Owan Local Council Area of Edo State,” he stated.
He explained that 20 wraps of cocaine, weighing 330 grams, were intercepted from a cargo shipment bound for Australia at a logistics firm in Lagos. The cocaine was concealed in face cream containers.