Odita Sunday 
NDLEA Arrests Two Elderly Drug Dealers Accused of Supplying Students, Seizes Illicit Consignments
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested two elderly men accused of supplying illicit drugs to secondary school students in Abia State, as operatives also intercepted prohibited substances concealed in shipments from China and arrested several suspected traffickers across the country.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.
According to him, the suspects, Godfrey Orji, 84, and Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, 75, were arrested in separate operations in Umuahia, Abia State.
Babafemi said Obiora was arrested on June 19 following intelligence reports that he was selling controlled substances to young people from his patent medicine store located on Club Road, Umuahia.
A search of the premises led to the recovery of 4.64 kilogrammes of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
He said Orji, a pensioner, was apprehended after he was caught allegedly supplying illicit drugs to two teenage students of Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia.
“The suspect was initially intercepted by school security personnel and subsequently handed over to the police before being transferred to the NDLEA for further investigation.
“One of the students, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) student, admitted that the suspect supplied him with drugs which he consumed and also sold to fellow students,” Babafemi said.
He added that while the two elderly suspects would be prosecuted, the students had been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted a consignment of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous new psychoactive substance, weighing 9.5 kilogrammes and concealed in a shipment from China.
Another operation led to the seizure of 300 grammes of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, hidden inside ladies’ handbags at 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, recovering nine bottles of codeine syrup and 30 grammes of skunk.
A follow-up operation at the shop of his wife, Aisha Saraki, on Lagos Island resulted in the recovery of two additional bottles of codeine, drug paraphernalia and 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilogrammes from a minibus parked in front of the shop.
Babafemi said an attempt by Saraki to destroy some of the exhibits by flushing them down a toilet was foiled by operatives.
In Kogi State, officers on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja highway arrested a suspect, Tochukwu Onah, 33, who was travelling from Lagos to Abuja with 1.03 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers.
Similarly, a couple wanted in connection with the seizure of 117 kilogrammes of skunk in Ekiti State in March were arrested after months on the run.
The suspects, James Tony Chukwudi, 48, and James Kehinde, 35, were apprehended in Efon-Alaaye, Ekiti State.
In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives arrested a 75-year-old woman, Tudun Olubiyi, alongside Nasiru Buhari, 22, and Buba Musa, 47, during a raid on a residence in Oyo town.
The operation led to the recovery of 118 jumbo bags containing 1,416 kilogrammes of skunk concealed beneath sawdust.
In Edo State, operatives arrested Patrick Imoukhede, 45, during a raid on Khagba Forest in Owan East Local Government Area, where 1,744.075 kilogrammes of cannabis were destroyed and 169 kilogrammes of processed cannabis recovered.
Another operation at Ebora Camp, Ilushi, in Esan South-East Local Government Area resulted in the destruction of 2,424.945 kilogrammes of cannabis, while a suspect, Augustine Anyamone, 45, was arrested with 395 kilogrammes of skunk.
Babafemi said the agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign through awareness programmes in schools, communities and other public institutions across the country.
He listed some of the beneficiary institutions as Orun Community Grammar School, Ekiti State; Government Girls Secondary School, Charanchi, Kano State; Federal Technical College, Doma, Nasarawa State; Tafida Community Secondary School, Zango, Katsina State; and Government Technical College, Onitsha, Anambra State.
The NDLEA spokesman said the Rivers State Command also conducted advocacy visits to traditional institutions, including the palace of the Paramount Ruler of Rumuogba Kingdom.
Commending officers and men of the agency in Abia, Lagos, Kogi, Ekiti, Oyo and Edo states for the successful operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, urged personnel across the country to sustain the momentum in reducing drug supply and expanding preventive education through the WADA campaign.
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