The Cross River State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Maurice Ogbonna, has been found dead in a hotel room in Calabar.
Ogbonna, who only assumed duty in the state in August 2025, was discovered lifeless on Thursday morning by his officers, who had gone to pick him up for a scheduled assignment.
Spokesperson for the Cross River State Police Command, Irene Ugbo-Obase, confirmed the incident, saying an investigation had commenced to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Friday, explained that the commander was expected to lead his men for an operation by 10 a.m. on Thursday but was unresponsive to calls and knocks on his hotel door.
He said, “Attempts by the hotel staff to open or force the door from outside failed, after which one of the attendants had to go through the ceiling aperture to gain access and open the door from inside, where they found the commander’s lifeless body.”
Babafemi added that the police were immediately alerted, with the Commissioner of Police in the state personally visiting the scene.
Reacting, the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commiserated with the family of the deceased senior officer.
Babafemi quoted Marwa as saying that the report of the death reached him in Borno State, where he was attending a retreat for heads of agencies organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
He said Marwa had directed the Zonal Commander, Zone 14, ACGN Mathew Ewah, to relocate to Calabar to assist police investigation.
While consoling the bereaved family, Marwa described Ogbonna as a committed officer who had been “up and doing” since assuming duty in the state.
