The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has uncovered what it described as a disturbing network through which two elderly men allegedly supplied illicit substances to secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State.
The suspects, identified as 84-year-old Godfrey Orji and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, were arrested in separate operations after intelligence reports linked them to the distribution of narcotics among teenagers.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said investigations revealed that Obiora allegedly operated from a patent medicine store in Umuahia, where he sold controlled drugs to students and other users. During a search of the premises, operatives reportedly recovered several opioid-based substances, including tramadol and diazepam, weighing a total of 4.64 kilogrammes.
The agency said Orji, a pensioner, was apprehended after he was allegedly caught supplying drugs to students of Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia. School security personnel reportedly intercepted him and handed him over to authorities for further investigation.
According to the NDLEA, one of the students involved, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School student, told investigators that the suspect had repeatedly supplied him with drugs. The teenager allegedly admitted that he not only consumed the substances but also distributed them to other students.
The anti-narcotics agency said the two suspects would face prosecution, while the students linked to the case had been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes designed to address substance abuse among young people.
Babafemi noted that the arrests formed part of wider operations carried out across the country to dismantle drug trafficking networks and curb the spread of illicit substances.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted a shipment containing 9.5 kilogrammes of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic psychoactive substance, concealed in a parcel that arrived from China through a courier service.
The agency also recovered 300 grammes of Loud, a highly potent cannabis strain, hidden inside handbags at a logistics company. In a separate operation, officers raided the residence of a wanted suspect, Lukman Badmus, popularly known as Lukman Ogombo, where narcotic substances were recovered.
Further investigations led operatives to a shop linked to the suspect's wife on Lagos Island, where additional drugs and related items were allegedly found. Officers also recovered 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilogrammes from a vehicle parked near the premises.
In Kogi State, NDLEA officers arrested a suspect travelling from Lagos to Abuja after allegedly discovering more than one kilogramme of methamphetamine concealed inside custard containers.
The agency also confirmed the arrest of two suspects wanted in connection with an earlier seizure of 117 kilogrammes of skunk in Ekiti State, while another operation in Oyo State resulted in the recovery of over 1,400 kilogrammes of cannabis and the arrest of three suspects.
In Edo State, operatives destroyed large cannabis plantations and seized substantial quantities of processed cannabis during raids in different communities.
Commending the officers involved, NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged commands nationwide to sustain the momentum in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse, stressing the need to combine enforcement efforts with public enlightenment campaigns.
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