Officers of the NDLEA in Kogi State, joined by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, stormed the Igolijo community in Igalamela-Odolu council area at about 5.30 on Thursday morning and destroyed ten hectares of cannabis sativa plantation.[1][2] The team set the entire farm ablaze during the operation.[1][2]
The officers arrested the prime suspect, 55-year-old James Ameh, a father of ten, together with six others: Usman Bello, Eze Stanley, Innocent Ameh, Samule Idoko, Ojima Ojo and Ekene Ukwueze.[1][2] Ameh had tried to escape but was overpowered, and a fully loaded pump-action gun with seven live cartridges was recovered from the suspects.[1][2]
A native doctor’s denial
Ameh, a native doctor from Ete on the Kogi-Enugu boundary, denied knowing or owning the plantation even while standing on the farm.[1][2] He claimed the gun belonged to a friend who owed him N80,000 and had left it as collateral for the debt.[1][2] He said he had collected it pending repayment and had not known keeping it would put him in trouble.[1][2]
The state NDLEA commander, Alhaji Idris Bello, said the suspects had been on the agency’s wanted list for months and that the raid followed thorough intelligence on the plantation and on trafficking between Kogi and Enugu states.[1][2] He commended the state government and Governor Yahaya Bello for supporting the agency, warned that anyone caught in the trade would face the full wrath of the law, and said the suspects would be charged to court once investigations concluded.[1][2]
