NDLEA Arrests Two Elderly Drug Dealers for Supplying Students, Seizes Illicit Consignments

By Zainab Uzomah|Abuja

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State, as the agency intensified operations against drug trafficking networks across the country.

According to a statement signed by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspects, identified as Godfrey Orji, 84, and Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, 75, were arrested in separate operations linked to the sale of illicit substances to teenagers.

Obiora was arrested at his patent medicine store located on Club Road, Umuahia, where NDLEA operatives recovered 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.

Orji, a pensioner, was apprehended after he was caught supplying drugs to two students of Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia. The suspects were later transferred to NDLEA custody for further investigation.

One of the students, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two student, reportedly told investigators that Orji supplied him with drugs which he consumed and sold to fellow students. The affected students have since been placed on counselling and rehabilitation programmes.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 9.5-kilogram consignment of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous new psychoactive substance, concealed in a package shipped from China.

The agency also seized 300 grams of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, hidden inside ladies’ handbags at a logistics company.

Operatives further raided the residence of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, also known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ogombo area of Ajah, recovering bottles of codeine syrup and quantities of skunk.

A follow-up operation at a shop belonging to his wife, Aisha Saraki, on Lagos Island led to the recovery of additional codeine syrup, drug paraphernalia and 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilograms.

In Kogi State, NDLEA officers arrested a suspect, Tochukwu Onah, along the Okene-Lokoja highway with 1.03 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers while travelling from Lagos to Abuja.

The agency also arrested a wanted couple, James Tony Chukwudi and James Kehinde, in Ekiti State over their alleged connection to the seizure of 117 kilograms of skunk in March.

In Oyo State, a 75-year-old woman, Tudun Olubiyi, and two other suspects were arrested during a raid in Oyo town, where officers recovered 1,416 kilograms of skunk concealed in 118 jumbo bags covered with sawdust.

Similarly, in Edo State, operatives raided cannabis farms in Owan East and Esan South Local Government Areas, destroying more than four tonnes of cannabis and arresting two suspects.

The agency said its War Against Drug Abuse campaign continued across schools and communities nationwide, with sensitisation programmes held in Ekiti, Kano, Nasarawa, Katsina, Anambra and Rivers states.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, retired Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the fight against drug trafficking and abuse across the country.