CALABAR — Conflicting accounts have emerged following a controversial operation carried out by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Ikang community, Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River state, which left a child hospitalised and triggered tension within the area.
While community leaders accused operatives of indiscriminate shooting and misconduct during the operation, the NDLEA said its officers came under violent attack from residents while carrying out a legitimate raid targeting suspected drug dealers.
The incident reportedly occurred on Wednesday evening at Adim Street in Ikang community.
Youth Leader of Ikang town, Linus Asuquo Esien, alleged that gunshots rang out while youths were holding a community meeting to discuss sanitation activities.
According to him, panic spread across the area after armed men stormed the venue without prior notice to local security authorities.
Esien claimed that residents initially suspected the armed men were militants before they were later identified as NDLEA operatives.
He alleged that during the operation, operatives shot a young boy in the stomach, leaving him critically injured, while several other persons, including a woman and an elderly man, reportedly lost consciousness amid the chaos.
“When I uncovered the clothes, I saw that the intestine was out,” Esien said while recounting the incident.
The youth leader further accused some operatives of attempting to implicate innocent residents by allegedly planting suspected Indian hemp on them during arrests.
He also alleged that operatives brought along a commercial minibus to transport arrested persons and extort money from them.
According to him, youths and military personnel in the area later intercepted the operatives and compelled them to return the injured victims for medical treatment.
Esien initially stated that one of the victims had died but later clarified that no death was recorded, explaining that the injured boy was eventually rushed to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), where he is responding to treatment.
However, reacting to the allegations, the Public Relations Officer of the NDLEA Cross River Command, Sebastian Lebo, defended the operation and maintained that officers were attacked while carrying out their duties.
Lebo said the operation targeted two suspected drug dealers who were arrested with what he described as “good quality exhibits.”
According to him, operatives came under mob attack from residents armed with bottles, machetes, shovels and other objects.
“Our officers came under mob attack and unfortunately there was an injury,” he said.
“The injured civilian is at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital and is positively responding to treatment.”
The NDLEA spokesman also disclosed that one of the agency’s officers sustained severe injuries during the confrontation, insisting that operatives did not abandon the injured victim as alleged by residents.
He further stated that the agency had commenced an internal review of the operation.
“But you know as an agency, we are still reviewing the operation,” Lebo said, adding that the NDLEA commander had visited the hospital and met with the injured boy’s father.
The incident has since generated reactions within the Bakassi community, with residents demanding greater accountability and improved coordination between security agencies operating in the area.
Some community members also raised concerns over the conduct of security operations in densely populated residential areas.
As of the time of filing this report, authorities had not announced whether any formal investigation outside the NDLEA review process would be conducted into the incident.
