Two grandfathers nabbed for selling drugs to students

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly supplying and selling illicit drugs to secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State.

The suspects, identified as 84-year-old Godfrey Orji and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, were apprehended in separate operations carried out by operatives of the agency.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Obiora was arrested on June 19 following intelligence reports that he was selling illicit substances from his patent medicine store located on Club Road in Umuahia.

A search of the premises led to the recovery of 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.

Babafemi said the second suspect, Orji, a pensioner, was caught after he allegedly supplied illicit drugs to two students of Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia.

He explained that school security personnel apprehended the suspect and handed him and the students over to the police, who subsequently transferred the case to the NDLEA on June 18.

According to the agency, one of the teenagers, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two student, admitted during interrogation that Orji regularly supplied him with drugs for personal use and resale to fellow students.

The NDLEA said the two elderly suspects would be prosecuted, while the affected students had been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes.

Meanwhile, the agency also announced a series of drug seizures and arrests across the country.

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

Another operation on June 16 led to the seizure of 300 grams 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, popularly known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ogombo area of Ajah, where nine bottles of codeine syrup and 30 grams of skunk were recovered.

A follow-up operation at his wife’s shop on Lagos Island led to the recovery of two additional bottles of codeine, drug paraphernalia and 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilograms.

In Kogi State, operatives intercepted a 33-year-old suspect, Tochukwu Onah, on the Okene-Lokoja Highway with 1.03 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers while travelling from Lagos to Abuja.

The agency also confirmed the arrest of two suspects wanted in connection with the seizure of 117 kilograms of skunk in Ekiti State in March.

In Oyo State, NDLEA officers arrested three suspects, including a 75-year-old man, during a raid in Oyo Town, where 118 jumbo bags containing 1,416 kilograms of skunk concealed with sawdust were recovered.

Similarly, in Edo State, operatives raided cannabis farms in Owan East and Esan South Local Government Areas, destroying thousands of kilograms of cannabis and recovering large quantities of processed skunk. One suspect, identified as Augustine Anyamone, was arrested with 395 kilograms of skunk.

Commending the officers involved, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised commands in Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos, Kogi and Edo states for the arrests and seizures, urging personnel across the country to remain steadfast in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.