The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Wednesday said its operatives had arrested the leader of the Mushin, Lagos-based drug cartel identified as Sulaiman Jimoh aka Temo.
The agency stated that Temo, who had been on its wanted list, had been evading arrest until he was eventually nabbed.
His arrest came after a drug baron, identified as Joachin Mbonu, was arrested in his mansion in Imo State on July 12 after fleeing from South Africa.
In a statement on Wednesday, the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Temo was apprehended at his hideout after initially resisting along with his men.
He said, “After many years of wearing the toga of invincibility, the overall head of the Mushin, Lagos drug cartel, 57-year-old Alhaji Sulaiman Jimoh (alias Olowoidiogede, popularly known as Temo), has been arrested by operatives of the NDLEA, at his enclave after an initial resistance from him and his horde of hoodlums.”
Babafemi recalled that operatives of the NDLEA had seized drugs worth billions of naira from Temo.
He added that a few of the encounters by the operatives with Temo had resulted in fierce gun duels.
Babafemi said, “In the last two years, the NDLEA had intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs worth billions of naira owned by Temo but he had remained largely evasive while a few encounters with him and his armed gangs in his Mushin enclave had resulted in gunfights.
“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 the Ojuelegba area of Lagos in the early hours of Sunday, 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 Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Indeed, in the last two encounters, his men engaged the NDLEA operatives in a gunfight.”
Narrating how Temo was arrested, Babafemi said the NDLEA’s surveillance team tracked him to Igbarere Street in Mushin and was pinned down on July 22.
He said the team immediately called for a reinforcement of 50 operatives when he tried to escape.
Babafemi said, “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 efforts to get him paid off at 10 am on Monday, July 22, 2024 when the NDLEA’s surveillance teams on his trail tracked and 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.”
Babafemi stated that Temo attempted to mobilise hoodlums to engage and distract the operatives to facilitate his escape, but he was unsuccessful.
He said, “His attempt to escape by mobilising 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 the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers and men of the Lagos State Command, Special Monitoring Task Force and other formations for Temo’s arrest.
He said, “In his reaction to the arrest of Temo, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, 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.”
