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Sulaiman Jimoh (alias Olowoidiogede, who is also popularly known as Temo), the alleged overall head of the Mushin, Lagos drug cartel, has fallen into the dragnet of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), after many years.
Temo’s arrest at his enclave after initial resistance from him and his horde of hoodlums happened two years after the NDLEA intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs worth billions of naira owned by him.
However, he evaded arrest since then with a few encounters with him and his armed gangsters in his Mushin enclave had resulted in gun duels.
The alleged drug lord was suspected to be behind the shipments shipments 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 January 28, 2024; two truck-loads of the same substance weighing 8,852kg intercepted at Eleko beach, Lekki Lagos on May 4, 2023 and 252kg of Loud seized from his enclave in Mushin on 26th July 2023.
However, in a statement on Wednesday, Mr. Femi Babafemi, the spokesman of the NDLEA, disclosed Temo’s men engaged NDLEA operatives in a gunfight in the last two encounters.
The statement said persistence and determination of the Agency, aided by modern tools and intelligence, paid off at 10am on Monday 22nd July 2024 when NDLEA’s surveillance teams on his trail tracked Temo, who was notorious for always being on the move to evade arrest, down at Igbarere Street, Mushin, Lagos State.
A reinforcement of about 50 operatives was immediately mobilised to the area while he was attempting to escape in a Mercedes Benz SUV GLE 350 marked 01G-300G after mobilising hoodlums to engage and distract the operatives.
His gambit failed, as he was arrested and whisked away from the chaotic scene, as his men surrendered to the superior firepower of the anti-narcotic agents who also recovered the Mercedes Benz SUV the suspect was found in.
Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, lauded the operatives 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.
“I am particularly delighted because the arrest was eventually effected in his enclave without any casualty despite the attack on our men,” Marwa said. “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.”
