A 35-year-old suspected drug peddler, Ayodele Osuya, has said that he went into the business to fend for his family.
Osuya said he became frustrated after he sold all he had to pay ransom to secure his freedom from the kidnappers’ den.
He spoke while being paraded by the Ondo Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Osuya was arrested with 228 Kilogrammes of Indian Hemp otherwise known as Cannabis Sativa.
According to him, “I am only trying to help my family because of the issue I had earlier. I had nobody to help me. So, that is why I have to get myself involved in this business, to cater for my family.
“ I just started this year, because last year, herdsmen kidnapped me. I sold all I had; my building, my vehicle. Then, I have nobody that could help me. So, I had to sell what I have to free myself,” he said.
Ondo Commandant of NDLEA, Mr. Kayode Raji, said the suspect has been on their radar for some years.
Raji said the suspect was arrested with 309 pieces of the Indian hemp weighing 228kg concealed in the booth of a Toyota Camry car.
He confessed that it was a difficult task to trail the suspect.
“We have been on his trail for a very long time and at a time; we also suspected that he was very suspicious and almost about to get wind he was being trailed, so we relaxed the manhunt.
“On March 29, he was nabbed at a place called Quarter guard in Akure, Ondo State. Compressed cannabis, carefully stacked in the booth of the car, about 309 pieces of compressed cannabis, of about 228kg,” he said.