Three officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been hospitalised for gunshot injuries sustained after they came under attack from some armed men during a raid in the Jahi area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday night.
Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said the incident occurred when the operatives raided an uncompleted building in the NNPC area of Jahi following credible intelligence and surveillance.
During the operation, the NDLEA team recovered 74 bottles of codeine, 10 litres of codeine syrup, 48 grams of tramadol (225mg), 4.9 kilograms of skunk—a potent strain of cannabis—and five Android phones believed to belong to suspected drug traffickers.
However, as the team made their exit from the location, they were ambushed and came under gunfire from armed men. Three NDLEA personnel sustained gunshot wounds: one was hit in the rib, while the other two were struck in the back and leg, respectively.
The wounded officers were initially stabilised at the Police Clinic in Garki Area 1 before they were transferred to the National Hospital, Abuja, for further medical attention.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) expressed appreciation to the staff of the Police Clinic for their prompt support. He also thanked the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, who was personally reached by him, for overseeing the treatment of the wounded officers.
The NDLEA boss, who is in Kano on official engagements, also spoke on the telephone with the injured officers to wish them a quick recovery.
He assured them that the agency will deploy every means at its disposal and work in collaboration with other security agencies to fish out those responsible for the attack.
