After many years of wearing the toga of invincibility, the suspected overall head of the Mushin drug cartel in Lagos, 57-year-old Sulaiman Jimoh (alias Olowoidiogede, popularly known as Temo), has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
In a statement, the NDLEA said, in the last two years, it intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs worth billions of naira allegedly owned by Temo but he has remained largely evasive while a few encounters with him and his armed gangs in his Mushin enclave had resulted in gunfight.
Some of the recent seizures of shipments allegedly own by him include:
a 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; 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.
The NDLEA said it tracked down the suspect at 10am on Monday, 22nd July 2024 when the agency’s surveillance teams on his trail pinned him down at Igbarere street, Mushin.
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.
He allegedly tried to escape by mobilising hoodlums to engage and distract the operatives
The NDLEA said the attempt failed after which he was overpowered and whisked away.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig-Gen 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.
He urged them to intensify the heat on all drug cartels wherever they are located.
Marwa stated:
“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”.
