The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, announced the arrest of 59 suspected drug dealers in Sokoto, including the alleged mastermind of its operative’s murder.
Muhammad Iro, the state NDLEA Commander, revealed this on Friday, noting that the suspect, whose identity was not divulged, was previously detained in January at Bagarawa Village in Bodinga Local Government Area.
“In the process, the suspect alerted villagers who assisted him to escape arrest, leading to an attack on our personnel and the brutal killing of one of them,” he said.
Iro frowned at the lack of community support for the agency, emphasising the need for the public to be aware of its responsibilities.
“A drug dealer is destroying your children’s future, and instead of assisting us in effecting his arrest, you came out to attack us. However, after forcibly releasing him, you go ahead and kill one of our officers,” the commander said.
He said the arrested suspect had been on the wanted list of both NDLEA and the Nigerian Police.
Iro gave assurance that the suspect would face the full force of the law and that investigations would be conducted to identify his accomplices.