NDLEA arrests 101-year-old great-grandmother for ‘selling’ cannabis in Ogun
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother, Esther Ogunmabo, for allegedly selling cannabis in Ilisan, Ogun state.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said Ogunmabo was arrested on August 15 with 90 grammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, packaged in retail sachets.
According to Babafemi, the centenarian told operatives that she started selling the illicit drug after her provisions shop was razed by fire.
She reportedly said one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, supplies her with the substance every four days, which she sells in small quantities to people in the community.
Babafemi said Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, directed that Ogunmabo be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age. He added that the woman’s daughter had been arrested.
In another operation in Akwa Ibom, NDLEA spokesperson said operatives intercepted a wooden boat allegedly transporting illicit drugs to fishing settlements in Cameroon.
According to him, said three suspects were arrested aboard the boat on August 21, with 42.622kg of narcotics recovered.
He said one of the suspects, Kingsley Effiong John, 27, was allegedly found with 20 grammes of cocaine concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava flour, popularly known as fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk.
The NDLEA spokesperson said the agency also reported the seizure of two containers of cannabis indica, known as Loud, at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos.
He noted that the consignments, shipped from Thailand, had a combined street value of more than N4.4 billion.
At Apapa Port, operatives recovered 1,090.5kg of Thai Loud concealed in a container declared to contain dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries.
At the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Babafemi said another container yielded 400kg of Thai Loud concealed among pallets of A4 paper.
He described the seizures as its first interception of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor.
He added that the agency also reported other seizures and arrests in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ondo, Kwara, Oyo, Kano, Seme and Abia.
Babafemi said the agency would continue its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns across schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities.
He quoted Marwa as commending officers involved in the operations and urging them to sustain what he described as a balanced approach to drug control.
