The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men in Abia State over allegations of selling illicit drugs to secondary school students.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said the suspects, identified as 84-year-old Godfrey Orji and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, were arrested in separate operations in Umuahia as the agency intensified its nationwide anti-drug campaign.
According to the agency, Obiora was apprehended on June 19 following intelligence reports that he was selling illicit substances 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.
Orji, a pensioner, was arrested on June 18 after security personnel at Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia allegedly caught him supplying drugs to two teenage students. The students and suspect were subsequently handed over to law enforcement authorities before being transferred to NDLEA custody.
The agency said one of the students, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School 2 pupil, informed investigators that Orji supplied him with drugs for personal use and resale to other students.
While the elderly suspects are expected to face prosecution, NDLEA said the teenagers have been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
The agency also announced several major drug seizures across the country. In Lagos, operatives intercepted a 9.5-kilogramme consignment of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous psychoactive substance, concealed in a shipment from China.
Another operation uncovered 300 grammes of Loud, a potent cannabis strain, hidden inside ladies’ handbags at a logistics company.
NDLEA officers also raided the residence of a wanted suspect, Lukman Badmus, also known as Lukman Ogombo, in Ajah, Lagos. The operation led to the recovery of codeine syrup, skunk and drug paraphernalia. A follow-up search reportedly uncovered 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilogrammes.
In Kogi State, operatives arrested a 33-year-old suspect, Tochukwu Onah, along the Okene-Lokoja highway with 1.03 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers while travelling from Lagos to Abuja.
The agency also confirmed the arrest of a couple wanted in connection with the seizure of 117 kilogrammes of skunk in Ekiti State, while another operation in Oyo State resulted in the recovery of 1,416 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in 118 jumbo bags.
NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa commended officers involved in the operations and reiterated the agency’s commitment to combining enforcement actions with anti-drug awareness campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse initiative.
