The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has detained two elderly men in Abia State over accusations that they sold hard drugs to secondary school pupils.
The suspects — 84-year-old Godfrey Orji and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora — were picked up in separate raids in Umuahia as part of the agency’s wider crackdown on drug trafficking.
According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, Obiora was arrested on June 19. Intelligence reports said he was dealing illicit substances from his patent medicine shop on Club Road. A search of the store turned up 4.64kg of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
Orji, a retiree, was caught a day earlier on June 18 at Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia. School security officials said they caught him supplying drugs to two teenage students and handed him over to police, who then transferred the case to the NDLEA.
One of the students, a 15-year-old SS2 pupil, told investigators that Orji gave him drugs for personal use and to resell to classmates. While Orji and Obiora will be prosecuted, the NDLEA said the teenagers have been enrolled in counselling and rehab.
The agency also announced other major seizures across the country last week:
- Lagos: 9.5kg of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid from China, was intercepted at a courier firm. Officers also seized 300g of “Loud” cannabis hidden in handbags at a logistics company. In Ajah, a raid on wanted suspect Lukman Badmus’ home yielded codeine syrup and skunk. A follow-up at his wife’s shop on Lagos Island led to 22.5kg of skunk and more codeine being recovered from a minibus outside.
- Kogi: 33-year-old Tochukwu Onah was arrested on the Okene-Lokoja highway with 1.03kg of methamphetamine hidden in custard containers while travelling from Lagos to Abuja.
- Ekiti: Couple James Tony Chukwudi, 48, and James Kehinde, 35, were arrested after months on the run. They were wanted over a 117kg skunk seizure in March.
- Oyo: 75-year-old Tudun Olubiyi, Nasiru Buhari, 22, and Buba Musa, 47, were arrested in Elekara, Oyo town, with 1,416kg of skunk concealed in 118 jumbo bags filled with sawdust.
NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa praised the officers for the arrests and seizures. He said the agency is pairing its supply-reduction operations with preventive education through its War Against Drug Abuse campaign in schools, workplaces, and communities.
