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•Arrests grandpa, grandma in Ekiti, Benue
By Emma Njoku
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted three trailer loads of opioids, comprising 3,450,000 pills and 344,000 bottles of codeine syrup, at Abule Ado in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, who made the disclosure, in a statement, yesterday, said three suspects were also arrested in connection with the seizure.
He said the multi-billion naira consignments were loaded into two 40-ft container trucks and another 20-ft truck at the AML bonded terminal, Abule-Osun, near the International Trade Fair complex before heading to a large warehouse, at Abule-Ado, where NDLEA officers eventually arrested the suspects and recovered the opioid consignments last Thursday.
“Those arrested include the warehouse agent, Cosmas Obiajulu, 51; Ridwan Balogun, 25, and Banjo Tayo, 30, both drivers of two of the trucks, while the third driver jumped off to escape arrest,” the statement further disclosed.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives, last Tuesday, arrested a suspect, Nwankwo Ejike in the Coker area of Lagos, where 100 litres of codeine syrup were recovered from him, while 60 litres of the same substance were seized from Clinton Akinye, in the same area same day. Not less than 37.5kg of cannabis sativa loaded in a Toyota Camry car was recovered from another suspect, Adegbola Segun, 47, when the car was intercepted at the Mile 12 area of Lagos, last Monday. Another consignment of opioids, consisting of 59,106 pills of tramadol and different quantities of codeine syrup and rohypnol, being taken across the border to Garua, Cameroon, was intercepted by NDLEA officers, last Monday, along Mubi-Yola road, Adamawa State. Two suspects linked to the drugs: Abubakar Auwal, 39, and Adamu Abubakar, 25, (a.k.a Bamanga), a trans-border trafficker, who was to take the consignment from Mubi across to Cameroon, were promptly arrested.
In Edo state, NDLEA operatives, last Saturday, raided the Iguiye forest in Ovia North East LGA, where a total of 11, 636.185kg cannabis was destroyed on three farms measuring 4.654474 hectares, while additional 188kg of the same psychoactive substance was recovered and a suspect, Itah Nyong, was arrested during the overnight operation.
A 75-year-old grandpa, Jibril Audu, was, last Friday, arrested with 7.5 kilograms of cannabis, at Oke-asa village, Ijero-Ekiti, Ekiti State, during a raid operation, while a 70-year-old grandma, Tikwase Nytor, was nabbed with 15.6kg of same substance, last Thursday, during a raid operation at Achusa and International Market road, Makurdi, Benue state.
The NDLEA Commands across the country balanced their drug supply reduction operations with War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), advocacy campaigns to schools, markets, worship centres and communities. Some of these include: WADA sensitisation lecture to: Muslim faithful at Sultan Bello Jummat Mosque, Kaduna; students of Oduduwa University and Oduduwa Polytechnic, Ipetumodu, Osun; students of Nigerian Tulip International Colleges (Boys Section), Kano; students of Federal University of Technology, Babura, Jigawa; students of Father Tansi International College, Okpuno Awka, Anambra; WADA advocacy visit to Delta State First Lady, Deaconess Tobore Oborevwori, and similar advocacy visit to the Founder City of God Cathedral, Cardinal James Omolaja Odunmbaku, who was joined by Ojodu LCDA Chairman, Segun Odunmbaku in the Ojodu area of Lagos State.
While commending the efforts of the Lagos, Edo, Ekiti, Benue and Adamawa commands of the agency for jobs well done in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), assured that officers and men of the agency will continue to work with local and international partners to ensure that the scourge of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking is brought to the barest minimum in Nigeria.
