Follow Us on Google
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men in Abia State for allegedly selling illicit drugs to secondary school students as part of its ongoing nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking.
The suspects, 84-year-old Godfrey Orji and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, were arrested in separate operations in Umuahia.
In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said Obiora was arrested on June 19 following intelligence reports that he was selling illicit substances to students and other residents from his patent medicine store on Club Road, Umuahia. A search of the premises reportedly led to the recovery of 4.64 kilogrammes of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
Babafemi said Orji, a pensioner, was arrested on June 18 after he was caught at Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia allegedly supplying drugs to two teenage students.
“The guards thereafter handed them over to the police who in turn transferred them to NDLEA on Thursday 18th June,” he said.
According to the agency, one of the students, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two pupil, told investigators that Orji supplied him with drugs for personal use and resale to other students.
While the suspects are expected to face prosecution, NDLEA said the teenagers involved have been placed on counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
The agency also recorded major seizures in other parts of the country. In Lagos, operatives intercepted a 9.5kg consignment of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous psychoactive substance, concealed in a shipment from China. Another operation led to the seizure of 300 grammes of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis hidden inside ladies’ handbags.
Other News
NDLEA officers also raided the residence of a wanted suspect, Lukman Badmus, also known as Lukman Ogombo, in Ajah, Lagos, recovering codeine syrup and skunk. A follow-up operation at a shop belonging to his wife on Lagos Island led to the seizure of additional codeine, drug paraphernalia and 22.5kg of skunk hidden inside a minibus.
In Kogi State, operatives arrested 33-year-old Tochukwu Onah along the Okene-Lokoja highway with 1.03kg of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers while travelling from Lagos to Abuja.
The agency also announced the arrest of a wanted couple, James Tony Chukwudi, 48, and James Kehinde, 35, in Ekiti State over a 117kg skunk seizure recorded in March.
In Oyo State, operatives arrested 75-year-old Tudun Olubiyi alongside Nasiru Buhari, 22, and Buba Musa, 47, during a raid that led to the recovery of 1,416kg of skunk concealed in 118 jumbo bags covered with sawdust.
NDLEA said additional arrests and seizures were made in Edo State, while anti-drug awareness campaigns continued nationwide under its War Against Drug Abuse initiative.
Chairman of the agency, Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain efforts aimed at reducing drug supply while expanding preventive sensitisation campaigns across the country.
The latest arrests underscore growing concerns about the involvement of elderly individuals in drug trafficking and the exposure of school-age children to illicit substances, a trend authorities say they are determined to tackle.
