From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested two octogenarians—80-year-old Ayuba Ashiru and 82-year-old Mrs Uloma Uchechi Sunday, alongside her daughter Chisom Uchechi, 32, and 29 other suspects in nationwide raids from May 13–17.
The operations intercepted opioids worth over ₦3.2 billion and uncovered an AK-47 rifle hidden in a maize sack.
Ayuba Ashiru, a repeat offender jailed from 2014 to 2024 for drug crimes, was arrested on May 14 in Dogarawa, Sabon Gari LGA, Kaduna State, with 2.3kg of skunk.
“I have been in the illicit drug trade for the past 46 years,” he confessed. In Abia State, NDLEA raided Uloma Uchechi Sunday’s home in Umuaguma Ntigha Uzor village on May 17, recovering methamphetamine, tramadol, skunk, and N130,600 in cash. She admitted she and Chisom took over the trade after her son’s death two years ago.
At Port Harcourt’s Onne Port, NDLEA seized 3 million pills of tapentadol and carisoprodol (worth N2.1 billion) on May 14. At Apapa Seaport, Lagos, 169,800 bottles of codeine syrup (worth N1.1 billion) were found in a container on May 13. In Kwara State, 199,200 tramadol pills were recovered, and a Kwara State Polytechnic student, Ibrahim Oladimeji Abdulateef, was arrested with 650g of Loud.
In Niger State, Idris Kamal, 35, was caught with 143kg of skunk, while in Nasarawa, Welman Kengbo, 60, was nabbed with 594.8kg of skunk. Along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, Ismail Isah, 29, was intercepted on May 16 with an AK-47 rifle and two magazines hidden in a maize sack, to be transferred for further investigation.
NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) continued with sensitisation in schools, including Supreme International School, Kano, and Ila Orangun Grammar School, Osun. Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), NDLEA Chairman, commended operatives for balancing drug supply and demand reduction efforts. “I praise officers in all commands for their relentless work,” he stated.