Seven officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been injured and one of its vehicles damaged following the arrest of a notorious drug dealer, Micha Godwin, at Nukai Market, along Jalingo-Wukari road in Jalingo, Taraba State.
The suspect was arrested on Tuesday.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary of the agency, Nathaniel Ikyur says, following intelligence, the operatives stormed the market at about 2.30 pm to arrest the drug dealer and evacuate illicit substances in his warehouse.
“Soon after the arrest of Micha, miscreants mobilised from the community to attack the officers and vehicles with dangerous weapons.
“Despite the attack, the officers however managed to arrest their target after recovering some quantities of illicit drugs from the suspect and thereafter retreated to take the wounded to the hospital for treatment.”
Mr. Ikyur disclosed that reinforcement from the state command of the agency and other security agencies moved in to rescue the operatives from the scene of the attack.
In custody, the drug dealer said “what happened today is bad because this is the second time I have been arrested and brought here but the first arrest was not like this. I don’t know who invited the boys who attacked the NDLEA officers”.
While reacting to the incident, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (Retd) condemned the attack and directed an immediate switch to new operational guidelines that will make officers and men well-positioned to defend themselves adequately in the course of carrying out their duties.
He again warned that henceforth any obstruction or attack on NDLEA operatives in line of duty by suspects or their supporters would receive a commensurate response.
