Odita Sunday 
ABUJA – The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested an 80-year-old ex-convict, Jeremiah Isaiah Nkanta, for allegedly returning to the illicit drug trade just three years after completing a prison sentence for the same offense.
In a statement released on Sunday, the Director of Media and Advocacy for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, revealed that Nkanta was apprehended following credible intelligence at his residence in Mmanta-Abak village, Akwa Ibom State.
Babafemi recalled that the octogenarian had previously been arrested in December 2022, prosecuted, and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Despite this, he was found on Saturday with 5.7 kilograms of skunk—a potent strain of cannabis—in his home.
In a separate operation along the Oron-Ibaka Road in Akwa Ibom, operatives intercepted 37-year-old Ani Onyebuchi Romans. A search of full-body mannequins he was transporting for his clothing business revealed they were stuffed with 5.3 kilograms of tramadol pills. Investigations indicate the drugs were purchased in Onitsha, Anambra State, for trafficking into Cameroon.
The NDLEA’s recent “balanced approach” to drug supply reduction led to several other significant arrests and seizures:
- Oyo State: Operatives arrested notorious dealer Remi Bamidele (alias ‘Aluko the Mafia’) with over 10 kilograms of cannabis and recovered two vehicles. Other raids in Ibadan yielded quantities of Colorado and over ₦1.3 million in cash.
- Edo, Niger, Taraba, and Adamawa: Concurrent operations resulted in the arrest of multiple suspects and the seizure of large quantities of tramadol and other illicit substances.
The Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the various commands for their operational successes. He emphasized that the agency remains committed to its strategy of reducing both the supply and demand for illicit drugs across the country.
The agency’s use of intelligence and modern search techniques continues to expose sophisticated concealment methods used by traffickers to move illicit substances across state and national borders.
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