A 26-year-old former Boko Haram insurgent, Alayi Madu, was on March 9 arrested with 10 kilogrammes of skunk, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) disclosed on Sunday.

Mr Madu, a native of Banki town in Borno was intercepted with the banned substance on the Abuja-Kaduna highway on his way to Maiduguri.

A statement by NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said Mr Madu identified himself as a rehabilitated Boko Haram terrorist who surrendered to the Nigerian Army in 2021.

Mr Babafemi said the suspect wrote in his statement that he joined the notorious terrorist organisation in 2006 when he was nine years old.

“He said he repented and surrendered to the military in 2021, after which he underwent rehabilitation and de-radicalisation processes at Umaru Shehu rehabilitation centre, Maiduguri and Malam Sidi de-radicalization centre, Gombe, before he was discharged after spending six months.

“Thereafter, he travelled to Ibadan, Oyo state where he worked as a commercial motorcycle rider (Okada rider) before going into drug trafficking and his eventual arrest along Abuja-Kaduna express road,” he said.

In a related development, the traditional ruler in Ondo, Akinola Adebayo, was also arrested for alleged drug trafficking.

Mr Babafemi said that the traditional ruler was arrested in Kajola, a border community between Ondo state and Edo.

He said his arrest was part of ongoing operations to mop up illicit drugs across the country ahead of the next round of elections.

NDLEA officers in the early hours of Friday, March 10, stormed Kajola forest in Kajola community, a border town between Edo and Ondo state where they destroyed three cannabis farms, measuring 39.80 hectares.

“The owner of the farm who claims to be the Ba’ale of Kajola, Akinola Adebayo, 35, was arrested on the farm at 2:30am.

“Two other suspects believed to be his workers: Arikuyeri Abdulrahman, 23 and Habibu Ologun, 25, were also nabbed in a hut near the farms,” the NDLEA spokesman said.

(NAN)