Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have repelled rain of bullets from armed hoodlums who blocked all roads in Opuje community, Owan West local government area of Edo state.
The gunmen were said to have engaged in intense shooting to prevent the anti-narcotic operatives from accessing the warehouses in the forest where tons of processed psychoactive substances have been stored for distribution nationwide ahead of the coming Christmas and New Year season.
According to reports, Opuje community is notorious for cannabis cultivation, where the cartels invest huge resources, cutting down economic trees of the forest reserves and cultivating cannabis on a large scale, running into hundreds of hectares. After harvest, they build warehouses inside the forest reserves and employ the services of armed youths to protect the warehouses 24/7.
Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy of NDLEA noted that the raid on the forest, followed credible intelligence that the drug cartels had again stocked their warehouses in the forest to start distribution of the psychoactive substance to various parts of the country ahead of the yuletide season.
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Babafemi added that teams of NDLEA officers were mobilized to the forests and block the distribution of the illicit drug by destroying their warehouses, pointing out that some of the warehouses containing about 6,000kgs of cannabis were first taken down in Ujiogba forest in Esan West LGA last weekend.
He further stated that, “The NDLEA teams however came under gunfire attack in the early hours of Monday 4th December when they approached the Opuje forest after the armed hoodlums had blocked all access roads in the community. The NDLEA operatives were able to exit the area after over two hours of gun fight with the armed hoodlums.
“Unfortunately, three of the officers were injured in the attack with one of them shot in the head while some of the vehicles used for the operation were riddled with bullets. The affected officers were rushed to the hospital for treatment while the critically injured one had a major surgery on Wednesday 6th December to remove the bullets in his brain.”
Reacting to the attack, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) warned that those sponsoring attacks on the operatives “would know no rest until they are all brought before the law to face the consequences of their action and their criminal trade terminated.”
