After three years on the run, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have finally arrested 36-year-old Sunday Ibigide, identified as a “notorious drug kingpin”, in Asaba, Delta State.
Ibigide, who has been on the agency’s wanted list since March 19, 2022, was nabbed while attempting to move 250 blocks of skunk weighing 138 kilograms in his distribution bus.
Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA, in a statement on Sunday, said the fugitive had first come under NDLEA’s radar following the seizure of 24.137kg of the same psychoactive substance and 10 grams of molly linked to him. He immediately went underground and evaded arrest for over three years.
“However, acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives in Delta swooped on him on Sunday, August 10, 2025, arresting him alongside his aide, 27-year-old Clement Osuya, as they attempted to move the illicit consignment for distribution,” the statement said.
According to the NDLEA, in a separate offensive, its operatives, supported by the military and local vigilantes, stormed cannabis farms in Enugu Ezike, Enugu State, destroying 37,500kg of skunk cultivated on 15 hectares of land.
“In another sting operation, NDLEA officers intercepted 20,700 pills of tramadol and cocodamol from 53-year-old Emmanuel Ayogu along Nsukka Road, 9th Mile, Enugu, on Saturday, August 16. That same day, two other suspects — Nsubechukwu Achidde (24) and Osiaja Simple Frank (41) — were apprehended at Enugu’s New Market with 27.6kg of skunk.”
The agency announced it made its biggest seizure of the week at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State.
According to NDLEA, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, operatives intercepted five containers loaded with illicit opioids.
It disclosed that a joint examination on August 13 and 14 uncovered 875,000 bottles of codeine syrup worth over N6.1 billion and 3.5 million Trodol Benzhexol pills valued at N1.7 billion. The shipments, tracked under NDLEA’s intelligence watch-list, were seized at the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), Onne.
