Three men of the Kwara State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) were severely wounded on Wednesday in an encounter with weed smokers in Ilorin.

Three others escaped by the whiskers, Daily Trust gathered.

The incident occurred at Adifa off Gambari Area Ilorin when the NDLEA officials raided a suspected hide of the Indian hemp smokers. Daily Trust learnt the area was thrown into panic as residents scampered for safety.

The area was also said to have turned a ghost town as motorists made detour to avoid being trapped in the fracas. 

The NDLEA officers, numbering about six, according to an eyewitness account, were said to have been ambushed after they had successfully raided the den of the alleged smokers.

It was gathered that the assailants resisting the arrest of their members were armed with machetes and cudgels which they allegedly used on their victims.

Daily Trust also gathered that the team leader of the NDLEA men whose name could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report was seriously injured after several machete cuts inflicted on him by the attackers. His condition was said to be critical at an undisclosed hospital in Ilorin.