The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two elderly men for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to teenage 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 following intelligence reports linking them to drug distribution among minors.
According to a statement on Sunday by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Obiora was arrested on June 19 at his patent medicine store located on Club Road, Umuahia. A search of the premises led to the recovery of 4.64 kilogrammes of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
Babafemi said Orji, a pensioner, was caught by security personnel at St. Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia while allegedly supplying drugs to two students. He was subsequently handed over to the police before being transferred to NDLEA custody.
“One of the students, a 15-year-old SS2 pupil, confessed that the suspect regularly supplied him with drugs, which he consumed and also resold to other students,” the statement said.
The agency noted that while the suspects would be charged to court, the affected students had been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives intercepted a 9.5kg consignment of ADB-Chminaca, a potent synthetic cannabinoid, at a courier company in Lagos. The substance, described as a dangerous psychoactive drug, was concealed in a carton shipped from China.
Another seizure at a separate logistics firm in the state led to the discovery of 300 grammes of “Loud”, a strong strain of cannabis, hidden in ladies’ handbags.
Operatives also raided the residence of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, in the Ogombo area of Ajah, Lagos, recovering codeine syrup and skunk. A follow-up operation at his wife’s shop on Lagos Island yielded additional drugs and paraphernalia, while 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5kg were recovered from a vehicle parked nearby.
In Kogi State, officers intercepted a 33-year-old suspect, Tochukwu Onah, along the Okene-Lokoja highway with 1.03kg of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers.
Similarly, two suspects linked to the seizure of 117kg of skunk in Ekiti State were arrested after months on the run.
In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives uncovered a major drug cache during a raid in Oyo town, recovering 1,416kg of skunk stored in 118 jumbo bags concealed with sawdust. Three suspects, including a 75-year-old man, were arrested.
The anti-narcotics agency also reported large-scale destruction of cannabis farms and seizures in Edo State, where over 4,000kg of the substance was either destroyed or recovered in separate operations.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers across various commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the momentum in curbing drug trafficking and abuse.
He also emphasised the importance of ongoing sensitisation campaigns under the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse initiative, targeting schools, communities, and workplaces nationwide.
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