After years of wearing the toga of invincibility, the overall head of the Mushin, Lagos drug cartel, Sulaiman Jimoh alias Olowoidiogede, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Mr Jimoh, 57, was arrested at his enclave after initial resistance from him and his horde of hoodlums, the spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, the agency’s spokesperson said in a statement.
According to Mr Babafemi, in the past two years had intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs worth billions of naira owned by the drug lord also popularly known as Temo.
He said that while Temo has remained evasive, a few encounters with him and his armed gangs in his Mushin enclave had resulted in gunfights with the personnel of the NDLEA.
Mr Babafemi added that some of the recent seizures of his shipments include 14,524.8 kilograms of Ghana Loud, a strong strain of cannabis sativa, smuggled into Lagos from Ghana in two trucks and a J5 bus intercepted at Ojuelegba area of Lagos in the early hours of Sunday, January 28, 2024 and two truck-loads of the same substance weighing 8,852kg intercepted at Eleko beach, Lekki Lagos on 4th May 2023.
Also, the NDLEA seized 252kg of Loud from Temo’s enclave in Mushin on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, and in the last two encounters, his men engaged the agency’s operatives in a gunfight.
The statement said, “The drug kingpin was very notorious for always being on the move to evade arrest but with persistence and determination of the Agency aided by modern tools and intelligence, the concerted effort to get him paid off at 10:00 am on Monday 22nd July 2024 when NDLEA’s surveillance teams on his trail tracked and pinned him down at Igbarere street, Mushin.
“A reinforcement of about 50 operatives was immediately mobilized to the area while he was attempting to escape in a Mercedes Benz SUV GLE 350 marked 01G-300G.”
He added that Temo’s attempt to escape by mobilizing hoodlums to engage and distract the operatives however failed after which he was overpowered and whisked away from the chaotic scene.
However, his men surrendered to the superior firepower of the anti-narcotic agents who also succeeded in recovering the Mercedes Benz SUV the suspect was found in.
NDLEA’s Chairman reacts to Temo’s arrest
In his reaction to the arrest of Temo, Chairman of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the officers and men of the Lagos State Command, Special Monitoring Task Force and other formations tasked with the assignment of getting Temo arrested for their resilience, vigilance, and professionalism.
Mr Marwa urged the officials to intensify the heat on all drug cartels wherever they are located.
He said, “I’m particularly delighted because the arrest was eventually effected in his enclave without any casualty despite the attack on our men.
“This is therefore a clear message to others still involved in this criminal trade of illicit drugs that if they don’t opt out now, we’ll get them because we’re just steps away from their doorsteps and more importantly they can only run, they can’t hide forever”, Mr Marwa noted.
