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 by NDLEA operatives.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Obiora was arrested on June 19 following intelligence reports linking him to the sale of illicit substances from his patent medicine store on Club Road, Umuahia. A search of the premises reportedly led to the recovery of 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
Babafemi said Orji, a pensioner, was arrested after allegedly supplying drugs to two students of Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia. School security personnel reportedly apprehended him and handed him, alongside the students, to the police before the case was transferred to the NDLEA on June 18.
Investigations revealed that one of the students, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two student, allegedly admitted that Orji regularly supplied him with drugs for personal use and resale to other students.
The NDLEA said both elderly suspects would face prosecution, while the affected students have been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
The agency also reported a series of drug-related arrests and seizures across the country. In Lagos, operatives intercepted a 9.5-kilogram consignment of ADB-Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid concealed in a shipment from China. Another operation led to the seizure of 300 grams of a potent cannabis strain known as Loud, hidden inside ladies’ handbags at a logistics company.
NDLEA officers also raided the residence of a wanted drug suspect, Lukman Badmus, popularly known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ogombo area of Ajah, recovering codeine syrup and skunk. A follow-up operation at his wife’s shop on Lagos Island uncovered additional codeine, drug paraphernalia and 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilograms.
In Kogi State, operatives arrested a 33-year-old suspect, Tochukwu Onah, with 1.03 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers while travelling from Lagos to Abuja.
The agency further confirmed the arrest of two suspects linked to the seizure of 117 kilograms of skunk in Ekiti State earlier this year.
In Oyo State, three suspects, including another 75-year-old man, were arrested during a raid in Oyo Town where officers recovered 1,416 kilograms of skunk concealed in 118 jumbo bags mixed with sawdust.
Meanwhile, in Edo State, NDLEA operatives destroyed large cannabis farms in Owan East and Esan South local government areas and recovered significant quantities of processed skunk. One suspect, Augustine Anyamone, was arrested with 395 kilograms of the substance.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged personnel nationwide to remain committed to the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.