The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men in Abia State over alleged involvement in the sale of illicit drugs to secondary school students.
The suspects, 84-year-old Godfrey Orji and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, were separately arrested in Umuahia during coordinated operations as the agency stepped up its nationwide anti-drug campaign.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said Obiora was arrested on June 19 after intelligence linked him to the sale of illegal substances to students and residents from his patent medicine shop 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 added that Orji, a retired pensioner, was arrested on June 18 after being caught by security operatives at Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia, where he was 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.
One of the students, a 15-year-old SS2 pupil, allegedly told investigators that Orji supplied him with drugs for personal use and for resale to other students. The NDLEA said the minors involved have been placed on counselling and rehabilitation programmes, while the suspects will face prosecution.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives in Lagos intercepted 9.5 kilogrammes of ADB-Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous psychoactive substance, hidden in a consignment from China at a courier facility.
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The agency also seized 300 grammes of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, concealed inside ladies’ handbags at another logistics company on June 16.
In another operation, officers raided the home of a wanted suspect, Lukman Badmus, also known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ogombo area of Ajah on June 19, recovering nine bottles of codeine syrup and 30 grammes of skunk.
A follow-up search at a shop belonging to his wife on Lagos Island led to the seizure of additional codeine bottles, drug paraphernalia, and 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilogrammes from a minibus parked nearby.
In Kogi State, a 33-year-old suspect, Tochukwu Onah, was arrested along the Okene-Lokoja highway with 1.03 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers while travelling from Lagos to Abuja.
The NDLEA also announced the arrest of a couple, 48-year-old James Tony Chukwudi and 35-year-old James Kehinde, in Ekiti State over their alleged connection to the seizure of 117 kilogrammes of skunk earlier in March.
In Oyo State, operatives arrested 75-year-old Tudun Olubiyi alongside Nasiru Buhari (22) and Buba Musa (47) during a raid in the Dangote area of Elekara, Oyo town, where 1,416 kilogrammes of skunk concealed with sawdust were recovered.
Similar arrests and seizures were also recorded in Edo State as part of ongoing operations.
NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, praised officers involved in the nationwide operations, noting that enforcement efforts were being matched with public sensitisation campaigns under the War Against Drug Abuse initiative. He also urged personnel to remain committed in tackling drug trafficking across the country.