NDLEA nabs two grandfathers selling illicit drugs to students

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to teenage secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State, in a crackdown that also led to the interception of dangerous narcotics shipments from China and the arrest of several suspected drug traffickers across the country.

The agency disclosed that the suspects, identified as 84-year-old pensioner, Godfrey Orji, and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, were arrested in separate operations following intelligence reports linking them to the distribution of illicit substances to young people.

NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, said Obiora was arrested on Friday, June 19, at his patent medicine store located on Club Road, Umuahia.

According to him, a search of the premises led to the recovery of 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam, allegedly stocked for sale to students and other users.

Babafemi said Orji was apprehended by security personnel at Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia, while allegedly supplying illicit drugs to two students of the school.

“The security guards handed the suspect and the students over to the police, who subsequently transferred the case to NDLEA for further investigation,” he said.

One of the students, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) pupil, reportedly told investigators that the elderly suspect had been supplying him with drugs which he consumed and also sold to fellow students.

While the two suspects are expected to face prosecution, the affected students have been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes, the agency said.

Beyond the Abia arrests, the anti-narcotics agency recorded a series of major seizures and arrests across the country.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 9.5-kilogram consignment of ADB Chminaca, a potent synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous new psychoactive substance. The shipment, which originated from China, was discovered concealed in a carton at a courier company.

In another operation, officers uncovered 300 grams of Loud, a highly potent strain of cannabis, hidden inside ladies’ handbags destined for export to Dubai through a logistics company.

The agency also raided the residence of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, also known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ogombo area of Ajah, Lagos, where officers recovered bottles of codeine syrup and quantities of skunk.

A follow-up raid at a shop belonging to his wife, Aisha Saraki, on Lagos Island resulted in the recovery of additional codeine syrup, drug paraphernalia and 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilograms. NDLEA operatives reportedly foiled an attempt by Saraki to flush some of the drug exhibits down a toilet during the operation.

In Kogi State, officers intercepted a 33-year-old suspect, Tochukwu Onah, along the Okene-Lokoja highway while transporting 1.03 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside custard containers from Lagos to Abuja.

A major breakthrough was also recorded in Ekiti State, where NDLEA operatives arrested a wanted couple, James Tony Chukwudi and James Kehinde, who had been on the run since the seizure of 117 kilograms of skunk linked to them in March this year.

In Oyo State, a 75-year-old woman, Tudun Olubiyi, alongside two other suspects, was arrested during a raid on a house in the Dangote area of Elekara, Oyo Town. The operation led to the recovery of 118 jumbo bags containing 1,416 kilograms of skunk concealed beneath sawdust.

Similarly, in Edo State, officers raided cannabis farms in forest locations, destroying over four tonnes of cannabis and recovering hundreds of kilograms of processed skunk. Two suspects were arrested during the operations.

Babafemi noted that the agency sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools, communities, workplaces and traditional institutions across several states, including Ekiti, Kano, Nasarawa, Katsina, Anambra and Rivers.

Commending officers involved in the various operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised the balance between aggressive drug supply reduction efforts and sustained public enlightenment campaigns.

He urged personnel across the country to remain steadfast in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse, warning that criminal networks targeting young Nigerians would continue to face the full weight of the law.