NDLEA: Why we raided senator’s house, arrested aides, supporter

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says the recent attack on the NDLEA by the senator representing Kwara South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Oyelola Yisa Ashiru, was borne out of vendetta rather than on any altruistic motive or national interest.

The NDLEA said this during a press briefing at its National Headquarters in Abuja on Monday, October 21, 2024.

The press briefing was held to address an allegation by Senator Ashiru that “the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is corrupt and compromised…”

Reacting, the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, described Ashiru’s attack as “unfortunate”, saying: “There is no doubt that setting up another agency is within the power of the Senate and if we are invited to contribute to the debate we will be willing to offer our opinion.

“While we cannot fault the power of the Senate on that, yet for a member of the upper chamber to have made such an unfounded and unwarranted categorical statement against the agency led us to look inward to see what could have been responsible for such a carpeting general statement. What we found was shocking, and we concluded that his statement came from a place of vendetta and certainly not out of public interest or any altruistic motive.

“The personal house of the senator in GRA Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, had been raided in recent past, where drugs and illicit substances were recovered while two of his aides: Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya were arrested.

“Based on credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed that the senator’s house was being used as a drug joint for drug dealers and users, the house was raided by our operatives at 1:30 p.m. on February 4, 2024, during which the two aides were arrested, while a third suspect escaped arrest.

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“In another encounter with the senator, the agency also received intelligence that some of his boys popularly known as ‘Omo Senator’ operating from his home town, Offa, were equally dealing in illicit drugs. A raid was subsequently carried out on their joint in Offa where one of them, Oluwatosin Odepidan was arrested and illicit drugs such as methamphetamine and cannabis were recovered from him on June 11, 2023.

“The bid to get the agency to drop the case against Odepidan including a visit to the Kwara State Command headquarters of the agency in Ilorin by the Personal Assistant to the senator, one Omoluabi, was rebuffed as Odepidan was promptly charged to court and prosecuted. Though the culprit jumped court bail in 2023, he was re-arrested in 2024 after the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was eventually convicted and sentenced in June 2024.

“So, going by this backstory, it is deductible that these encounters that the Agency has had with the senator, must have been responsible for his outburst, and unfortunately, false allegation, the type that nobody within and outside of government has ever levelled against NDLEA before.”

Babafemi stated that despite the impression Senator Ashiru was trying to create about the NDLEA, the agency has continued to receive accolades from local and international bodies for its successes in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.

The NDLEA spokesman added that the agency will remain undeterred by Senator Ashiru’s attack but will be relentless in its ongoing effort to dismantle all illicit drug networks across the country, including the one allegedly operating in the lawmaker’s house.

The Star