Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adok
A proverb made popular by the Yoruba people of the South West Nigeria says the ‘Witch rather than exorcising her genie, replicates herself in multiples’. This adage is playing itself out at the NDLEA.
Just about a fortnight ago, many major national newspapers carried the distressing story of commanding officers of NDLEA in Ondo state providing paid protection for drug barons and their operations.
The level of connivance between drug barons and the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA has reached its hole in the ground without the security organisation enforcing the rules establishing it on erring officials.
It’s becoming common practices at the agency’s several commands to hear about collaboration of some officers with the criminals they are paid to hound working in tandem to ship drugs outside Nigeria.
While Nigerians are still at crossroad on the growing trend of scandalous compromises rocking the agency, another scam has exposed another set of drug cartel existing in NDLEA.
According to impeccable sources within the Agency, the Kaduna State Commander of NDLEA, Mr Mohammed Kaka Jibrin; the Assistant State Commander in charge of operations and intelligence, Mr Goddy Obainoke and a coterie of senior officers in the command have been caught pants down in what the source described as ‘notorious professional misconduct, unethical, disgraceful and dishonourable behaviour’.
The State Commander and his men were not only discovered to have been hobnobbing with drug barons for monetary returns, there are discoveries of several cases of recycling of seized drugs as well as extortion of huge sums of money from arrested drug dealers in exchange for freedom.
So far, about 19 different cases of arrests with considerable drug seizures which were compromised for huge monetary considerations have been unearthed.
The cat was literally let out of the bag when sharing of loot from money extorted from a patrol team -led arrest as well as the proceed from the recycled drugs resulted in disagreement amongst the criminally minded group.
A crack of the cartel was alleged to have rejected the sharing formular and said they were cheated and that it was unfair on the part of the Commander and his own cabal to have shared the loot they way he did.
Our investigation showed that the Chairman/ Chief Executive of the Agency, Mallam Ahmadu Giade visited the Command office in Kaduna on 5th August, 2014 in company with several top NDLEA officers for on the spot briefing and stock taking.
He was said to have ordered the immediate detention of Suleiman El-Gandau, Isa Hayatou, Ikumelo Segun and one Alao Sulaimon Dawodu, said to be a relation of the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke, who incidentally is the supervising minister of the Agency while he directed the Kaduna State Commander and his deputy to hand over to one Alabe Azinge Samuel.
These steps were presumably taken by Ahmadu Giade in order to restore normalcy in the command and also to mitigate the odious public outcry and condemnation that the incident would generate as soon as it becomes public knowledge.
A senior operative at the No4, Shaw Road, and Ikoyi office of NDLEA has express contempt what she described as "the shedding of crocodile tears by a hypocritical boss". She claimed that "Giade's action is pretentious and a play to the gallery in view of the fact that his management style tacitly endorses corruption".
Another inside source who wishes to remain anonymous, for fear of being maltreated revealed that Mohammed Kaka Jibrin is one of those who carried does false errand for Giade for which he (Jibrin) had received undue and unmerited compensation.
For instance, "he was one of those Giade granted double promotion without merit and in complete disregard to service rules", he claimed.
"This particular action of Giade was roundly condemned and contested by staff of the Agency. Rather than yield to reason and as a mark of a disincline to seek or heed the opinion of other management staff before critical decisions are taken, Giade selected him as NDLEA representative to NIPPS, Kuru, Jos even when he was clearly undeserving of it".
The source revealed further that: "NDLEA state commands receive the sum of N65, 000 (Sixty Five Thousand Naira only) monthly (irregularly) for the running of the entire state command. With this ridiculous amount, which is just about $500, the Commander must make substantial returns on arrest, drug seizure and prosecution failing which the commander is either punished or removed and sidelined". Our source continued, "it is also from this amount that vehicles and buildings are maintained including purchase of fuel for running vehicles, generators, etc. In short, while I whole heartedly support the crusade for zero tolerance for corruption, it would be the height of self denial by Ahmadu Giade to grandstand that NDLEA functions other than through recycled corruption".
Presently, the NDLEA is beleaguered organizations that needs a surgical operation of government before drug barons takes over the agency and make the country looks like Mexico and Columbia. Experts have suggested severally, that what the agency needs was deliberate and focused intervention of government. The current chairman of the agency, Ahmadu Giade has been in the saddle for about nine years and it seems he hasn’t been able to refocus the organisation.
If this current scandal wasn’t enough, then read the other scandal involving the Ogun State Command. Last January, there was an allegation of tampering with exhibit money recovered from a drug baron in its State Command in Ogun State, South West Nigeria.
The Commander, Alhaji Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed was queried by the agency’s top management over huge scam in his Command.
The Commander, who is one of those in the possession of one of the keys to the exhibit room allegedly, broke into the room of the agency and stolen exhibit money which were retrieved from drug barons and kept in the exhibit room.
The amount he was alleged to have stolen has in six digits. It’s observed in the NDLEA that keys to the exhibit room are separately kept by three different personnel so that no single officer would have access to the room at any time.
It was gathered that Alhaji Mohammed was under financial pressure occasioned by the death of his mother’s burial. He was said to have need money desperately and his relief was to break the exhibit room with his personal carpenter and made away with money recovered from drug barons in State.
The other officials holding the key refused to accept complicity to tamper with monetary exhibit before he brought in a carpenter to break the locks.
The Commander latter made away with some money and fled to his country-home for the burial of his mother. When the scam was leaked, Mohammed was contacted on phone concerning the fraud.
It was gathered that in order to cover up, he allegedly sourced for funds immediately and deposited in the account of another officer one Saminu Sanni, who now withdrew the money at his Abeokuta bank and handed same to the exhibit keeper Chuwang Bulus.
Known as “Triple Mohammed,” by his organization, he was once dismissed from the services of the Agency but was recalled under circumstances that are believed to be connected with being the Chairman’s tribe’s man.
A source in the agency hinted that the embattled commander was not only promptly promoted but appointed as State Commander. But Mitchell Ofoyeju, the Public Relations Officer of the agency didn’t pick his phone when reached him on phone.
Last June, another operative of the NDLEA that specializes in passing drug traffickers at the airport was arrested for abetting and aiding drug traffickers.
Ibidayin Godwin, an NDLEA operative attached to the Anambra State Command, was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, at the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Shed by NDLEA operatives.
He allegedly flew into Lagos State after abandoning his duty post in Anambra to pass a drug trafficker who was to use the MMIA to his destination. He was quickly picked up for allegedly aiding and abetting a suspected drug trafficker one Adetoye Taiwa in smuggling 3kg of methamphetamine to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Our investigation revealed that Ibidayin was not alone in the scam. He mentioned three other of his clandestine drug cartel in the scam as one, Taiwo Ososanya, Fatai Olawale Akera and Alhaji Yusuf Olayemi Bankole who are being quizzed by the NDLEA’s investigators.
Our source in NDLEA told our correspondent that Ibidayin promised that he was going to mention other senior colleagues of him, in the court.
When our correspondent reached the NDLEA’s Spokesman, Mitchell Ofoyeju, while already working on the story, a Press Release was sent to our correspondent on the matter, detailing the investigation of the agency and the promise by Giade to prosecute the officers involved in the scam. According to the Press Release made available to our correspondent, NDLEA boss, Ahmadu Giade said a staff of the Agency, would be prosecuted for allegedly aiding and abetting a suspected drug trafficker Adetoye Taiwa in smuggling 3kg of methamphetamine to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In a Press statement released to the media men on the matter, Ofoyeju stated that the Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade has ordered the immediate redeployment of the Kaduna State Commander and his two deputies. He disclosed that a panel of inquiry has also been constituted to investigate the allegations of official misconduct levelled against the former commander and his deputies.
According to Giade, the move was to pave way for an independent investigation following allegations of misconduct against the State command leadership.
“I have ordered the immediate redeployment of the Kaduna State Commander and his deputies following allegation of misconduct. In line with the rules of engagement, their redeployment will allow the panel of enquiry to objectively ascertain the authenticity of the allegations and make their recommendations”, Giade disclosed.
“The Agency is expected to take further administrative action based on the recommendations of the investigative panel. Meanwhile, the affected commanders will be given a fair hearing in accordance with the NDLEA rules”.
Accordingly, the NDLEA boss also appointed Samuel Azinge as the new State Commander. Azinge took over from Mohammed Jibrin Kaka. Similarly, Onyishi Daniel Ogbonna took over from Obainoke Goddy as the Assistant Commander, Operations and Intelligence while Kenneth Stephen Irmiya relieved Ahmed Mamuda as the new Assistant Commander, Administration and Logistics.
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