A 20-year-old Nigerian music artist, Godspower Osahenrumwen, popularly known by his stage name Steady Boy, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
His arrest was linked to alleged involvement in the importation of a large consignment of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, from the United States.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect was taken into custody on Thursday, 30 October, after he showed up to collect a shipment containing 77.20kg of Loud concealed inside three cartons of bathtubs at a residence in Bougain Villa, Primewater Gardens 2, Freedom Way, Lekki, Lagos.
The consignment, which also contained clothes and electronic gadgets, had arrived in Nigeria aboard a DHL flight from New York on Tuesday, 28 October, and was addressed to Steady Boy, who appeared as the consignee to claim the items.
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NDLEA officers had earlier intercepted the shipment at the import shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, following intelligence that it contained narcotics.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the young artist was acting on behalf of a drug syndicate allegedly coordinated by his manager, Zion Omigie, also known as Zee Money, who is currently on the run. The Agency has launched a manhunt for the fleeing suspect.
During a raid, NDLEA operatives uncovered a clandestine laboratory in a residential building at Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos, where Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, was being produced.
The raid followed months of intelligence gathering after the Agency intercepted several consignments of locally made Colos earlier in the year.
The 30-year-old lab owner, Stephen Imoh, was arrested, and large quantities of freshly produced Colos and precursor chemicals were recovered. Items seized included 16.2kg of Colos, 1.7kg of ADB-CHMNACA Cannabinol, 4.5kg of potassium carbonate, and 91 litres of Dibromobutane.
NDLEA operatives also raided Mushin, Lagos, on 1 November, arresting 28-year-old Afeez Salisu (alias Malu) and seizing 16 compressed blocks of Ghana Loud and bottles of Colorado weighing 16.4 kilograms.
On the same day, three suspects, Seun Olaniyi (24), Rauf Asogba (28), and Ayinla Adeniyi (50), were arrested in Ogun State after NDLEA officers tracked their movement from Benin Republic and intercepted their bus along Abiola Way, Abeokuta, with 1,779kg of skunk.
Across other states, the Agency recorded several major interceptions. Along the Abuja–Jos highway, operatives seized 84,710 capsules of tramadol from a consignment originating in Onitsha and arrested 27-year-old Musa Abdulkarim, the intended recipient, in Bauchi.
Also, on 28 October, another suspect, Hamza Musa, 47, was caught transporting 32,946 bottles of Akuskura, a new psychoactive substance, while Saidu Nafiu, 30, was arrested with 131.5kg of skunk in Kaduna State.
Similarly, in Bauchi State, operatives arrested Jamilu Mustapha (46), also known as Last Card, with 596.4kg of skunk at Nasaru town, Ningi LGA.
Then in Kwara State, three men, Halilu Amiru, Rabiu Maikudi, and Ibrahim Mati, were caught with 532,600 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 concealed in a truck marked KTG-791 ZZ at Oko-Olowo, Ilorin.
In Edo State, NDLEA intercepted two Toyota Sienna buses loaded with 1,455kg of skunk along the Okhokho–Isi community road in Uhunmwode LGA.
While in Ondo State, a female suspect, Mrs. Ige Olarewaju, was linked to 2,829kg of skunk recovered from two locations at Ayede, Ogbese, and another suspect, Samuel Adebayo, was arrested with 737kg of the same substance at Adegbola Junction, Akure.
Further arrests were made in Lagos, where Ige Oluwale, 50, was caught with 76.5 litres of ‘skuchies’, a mixture of blackcurrant, skunk, and opioids, and in Taraba State, where Musbahu Abdullahi, 28, and Saleiman Ahmed, 25, were arrested in Wukari with 30,370 tramadol pills and 177 grams of methamphetamine while transporting the drugs from Onitsha to Yola.
Meanwhile, NDLEA Commands across the country intensified their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign with outreach programmes in schools, religious centres, workplaces, and communities.
Lectures were held at institutions including Aroje/Abaa Community High School, Ogbomoso (Oyo State); Amazing Flower Secondary School, Ikorodu (Lagos); and Royal Star Academy, Bebeji (Kano State).
Commending officers across the country for their professionalism and resilience, NDLEA Chairman, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa, reaffirmed the Agency’s commitment to dismantling drug syndicates and confiscating proceeds from illicit trafficking.
He warned Nigerian youths, particularly those in the entertainment industry, against being lured into drug-related crimes under the guise of fame or quick wealth, stressing that the NDLEA would not relent in bringing traffickers and their collaborators to justice.
