A wanted ex-beauty queen, Ms. Aderinoye Queen Christmas, also known as Ms. Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye, has surrendered to the Lagos command of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, after about eight months in hiding.
She was declared wanted by the agency in January after she escaped from her Lekki, Lagos residence when NDLEA operatives raided her apartment at Oral Estate, Lekki, on Wednesday 24th January following credible intelligence she deals in illicit substances.
The suspect was Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 and founder of Queen Christmas Foundation.
Recovered from her home during the search witnessed by the estate officials included 606 grams of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale, large quantities of drugs packing plastics, a black RAV 4 SUV marked Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and her picture frame among others.
The suspect who claimed she had been hiding in Akure Ondo State since January when she escaped arrest in Lekki Lagos however surrendered to the agency on Wednesday, August 28.
Meanwhile, no less than 1,122 kilograms of cannabis were seized from a suspect, Mustapha Ibrahim when he was arrested on Monday 26th August along Orchid road, Ajah, Lagos, while 816kg of the same psychoactive substance belonging to a suspect at large was recovered from the same location same day.
In Niger State, NDLEA operatives on Monday 26th August arrested a suspect Friday Gabriel along Minna-Suleja road while conveying 1,900 capsules of tramadol, 300 bottles of codeine syrup and 600 packets of exol-5 tablets.
Similarly, operatives in Bauchi State on Saturday, August 31, arrested two suspects: Garba Muhammed, 35; and Usman Yakubu Shehu, 31, along Bauchi-Gombe road while transporting 308 blocks of cannabis weighing 246.4kg, concealed in false compartment of a J5 bus marked Edo state URM 38 ZY.
In the same vein, 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 enlightenment lecture to members of Amankwu community, Ohafia local government area, Abia State; WADA advocacy visit to the Vice Chancellor, University of Delta, Prof. Stella Chiemeka, Agbor, Delta state; WADA sensitisation lecture to members of Down Luggere community, Jimeta, Yola North local government area, Adamawa State; youths at the ‘Save the Children Campaign’ annual holiday camp at Community Secondary School, Aka Offot, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state; youths during their summer class at Olubadan stadium, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State and WADA advocacy visit to Central Bank, Kaduna office, Kaduna State.
In his response to the latest seizures and arrests, Chairman/ Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended all the officers and men of PHPC, Tincan and the Special Operations Unit of the Agency that had been working on the targeted containers for their vigilance and professionalism.
He equally praised the support received from other stakeholders at the ports that enabled the seamless and successful operations in the course of targeting the shipments.
He also applauded operatives in Lagos, Niger, Bauchi and PHIA as well as other Commands across the country for their diligence and balance in their drug demand reduction and drug supply reduction efforts.
