National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it has intercepted 64,000 pump action gun cartridges and a new pump action gun at a store located at Success Line, Marine modern market, Onitsha, Awka North local government area of Anambra state.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the operatives of the agency stormed the shop with soldiers after an intelligence on drugs and arms deal going on there.
According to him, the operation led to the arrest of an arms dealer, 34-year-old Donatus Onyemachi Igwebudu on Wednesday December 15, 2021 and the arm and ammunition have been moved to the agency’s office in Awka.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene-Lokoja expressway in Kogi state intercepted 34 children between the ages of 8 and 14 being trafficked from Ijebu Ode, Ogun state to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
The minors packed in two commercial buses; Toyota Sienna and a 12- Seater Mazda with registration numbers Lagos LND124FV and Oyo BDJ-683YK respectively, were recovered in the early hours of Thursday December 16, from the human trafficking syndicate.
The bus drivers confirmed that the kids were handed over to them by a woman at Ijebu Ode to be conveyed to Abuja, adding that on arrival in FCT, the woman is to call another bus driver who will convey the children to Riyom in Plateau State.
It was further revealed that the children were initially trafficked from Plateau state to Ijebu Ode, where they were distributed to different households as domestic servants.
Some of the children were discovered to have served for two years and their rewards sent to woman’s agent in Jos.