Adebayo Adenrele
…as three Officers sustain injuries
Armed Hoodlums have engaged in a gun duel with officers of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA) in Opuje community, Owan West local government area of Edo state, in a bid to prevent the anti-narcotic operatives from accessing their forest warehouses.
The incident, which was confirmed by the spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi added that the warehouses were discovered to store tons of processed psychoactive substances for distribution nationwide ahead of the coming Christmas and New Year season.
According to him, three Officers of the Operatives were injured with one of them shot in the head while some of the vehicles used for the operation were riddled with bullets.
His words: “The 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.
“Following 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, teams of NDLEA officers were mobilized to enter the Edo forests and block the distribution of the illicit drug by destroying their warehouses.
“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”.