The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA on Wednesday announced the arrest of the most wanted drug baron in Lagos State, Alhaji Sulaiman Jimoh, after many years of evading arrest.
Jimoh, alias Olowoidiogede, popularly known as Temo, is said to be the overall head of the Mushin-Lagos drug cartel.
The 57-year-old was arrested by operatives of the NDLEA, at his enclave after initial resistance from him and his horde of hoodlums, the Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi disclosed in a statement on Wednesday.
Babafemi said in the last two years, the NDLEA had intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs worth billions of naira owned by Temo. Still, he has remained largely elusive while a few encounters with him and his armed gangs in his Mushin enclave had resulted in a gunfight.
“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 28th January 2024.
“Others include two truck-loads of the same substance weighing 8,852kg intercepted at Eleko beach, Lekki Lagos on 4th May 2023 and 252kg of Loud seized from his enclave in Mushin on Wednesday 26th July 2023.
“Indeed, in the last two encounters, his men engaged NDLEA operatives in a gunfight.
“The drug kingpin was very notorious for always being on the move to evade arrest but with the persistence and determination of the Agency aided by modern tools and intelligence, the concerted effort to get him paid off at 10 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.
“His 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 while 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,” Babafemi said.
In his reaction to the arrest of Temo, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the officers and men of the Lagos State Command, Special Monitoring Task Force, and other formations tasked with getting Temo arrested for their resilience, vigilance, and professionalism.
He urged them to intensify the heat on all drug cartels wherever they are located.
“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”, Marwa stated.
