The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has stepped up its efforts to fight drug trafficking networks across the country. In a series of intelligence-led raids, they arrested a 93-year-old man, a medical doctor, and numerous other suspects.
The agency added that Pa Friday Ahukanna Chigbu, a 93-year-old great-grandfather, was taken into custody at his home in Umuagbaigba, Amavo Nkwogu village, which is in the Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State. During a check of his home, police found 7.7 kilograms of skunk, which is a type of cannabis.
Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy for the NDLEA, says that the suspect said he had been using cannabis since 1959 and had turned it into a business in the last few years.
In a separate operation, NDLEA agents arrested an Ivorian citizen named Gohouri Michael at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, which led to the discovery of an international drug trafficking link. He was caught while passengers were getting off an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan via Addis Ababa.
The defendant had 82 wraps of cocaine that weighed 1.49 kilos and said he had taken the drugs. Investigators found that he had gone from Milan to Lagos, then to Enugu, and finally to Kano, where he took the illegal shipment in a hotel room.
The suspect is said to have admitted that he would be paid €5,000 if he successfully delivered the pills to Milan.
After more inquiry, a 69-year-old doctor named Chudi Daniel Ofomata was arrested. He is thought to be the one who planned the procedure. He was found at his home in Magboro, Ogun State, and then arrested.
NDLEA agents also caught three people in Ogun State: Azeez Sanni, Olayinka Oke, and Adekunle Adeyemi. They were found with 34 kg of skunk in Sango Ota.
In Imo State, a woman named Ayoka Akinwale was also arrested with 56.2 kg of the same drug in Owerri.
A couple in Niger State, Abdullahi Umar and his wife Adama Umar, were detained when police found 118 kg of skunk in their kitchen.
Along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, meantime, police stopped a Chisco Transport luxury bus that was on its way to Port Harcourt. A search of the car found 15 kilograms of “Scottish Loud,” which is another type of cannabis. Kingsley Nsofor and Opara Ifeanyi were arrested in connection with the seizure.
The NDLEA added that similar operations were done in other regions of Lagos, Abuja, and Auchi, Edo State. The agency is still working to stop drug cartels and their partners all over the country.
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