The Nation Newspaper

Tag: illicit drug

  • Lekki, Italy-based businessmen arrested over illicit drug shipments to Nigeria, Europe

    Lekki, Italy-based businessmen arrested over illicit drug shipments to Nigeria, Europe

    Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a Lekki-based businessman and proprietor of Damillionz Takeout, Arokodare Damil Ebenezer, for allegedly being in connection with the shipment of 60 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, from the United States.

    The 43-year-old man was arrested at Bay Lounge, Lekki, Lagos on  March 24 while expecting to receive his drug consignment, according to the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, yesterday.

    Babafemi, in a statement, said the arrest followed the seizure of his cargo in seven cartons at a logistics firm on March 12 by operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation.

    “After his arrest, he was taken to his Lekki home for a search during which 94grams of the same psychoactive substance, cannabis crusher and other drug paraphernalia were recovered.

    “This brings the total weight of the drug seized from him to 32.24 kilograms.

    In his statement, he claimed he started the illicit drug business in 2017,” Babafemi said.

    The spokesman said an attempt by another businessman Omoruyi Terry to allegedly export 1,400 pills of tramadol 225mg weighing 800 grams to Italy was also thwarted by NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

    Babafemi said Omoruyi was nabbed at the screening point of Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport on his way to Italy via a Qatar Airways flight.

    According to the statement, investigation indicated that the suspect is an Italy-based frequent traveller and logistics agent.

    It reads: “In Katsina, four suspects: Baraka Abubakar, 40; Haruna Alitine, 23; Muhammad Babangida, 20; and Hamisu Lawal, were arrested on Friday 28th March during an intelligence led raid operation at Godai village in Daura LGA where 684 blocks of compressed skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 423kg and 86,000 pills of diazepam were recovered from them.

    Read Also: Lekki, Italy-based businessmen arrested over illicit drug shipments to Nigeria, Europe

    “The three male suspects were arrested while repackaging the diazepam tablets into other containers while Baraka, the female suspect was apprehended with the heaps of skunk in her house.

    Not less than 13,198 kilograms of cannabis sativa were destroyed in Edo forests across parts of the state between Monday 24th and Friday 28th March by NDLEA operatives who also evacuated 158kg of the same substance for possible prosecution.

    “The forests where no fewer than four cannabis plantations were discovered and destroyed include: Uhen forest, Ovia North East Local Government Area; Sobe, Owan West Local Government Area; and Amahor forest in Igueben Local Government Area.

    “In Niger State, NDLEA officers on patrol along Mokwa-Jebba road on Friday 28th March intercepted a black Toyota Corolla car marked SLM 137 SV and arrested the two occupants in possession of 179 blocks of compressed skunk with a total weight of 77.6kg concealed in false bottom of the vehicle.

    “The two suspects are: Paul Christopher, 46, and Lucky Star Anumie. In another operation, 50kg skunk was on Saturday 29th March recovered from the home of a suspect, Isa Iliya, who is currently at large, in Wawa village, Borgu council area of the state.’’

  • Declare emergency on illicit drugs

    Declare emergency on illicit drugs

    • By Kalthum Alhassan

    Sir: About four weeks ago, members of the Governors Spouses Forum, during a two-day Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Care (DPTC) training called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency on illicit drug use and trafficking pandemic.

    The first ladies’ demand, contained in a communiqué released after the training organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), was not the first call for a state of emergency on drug abuse in recent times.

    Sometime in November 2023, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Narcotics, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, said on the floor of the Senate during plenary, that members of the committee and the relevant bodies and authorities would consider the possibility of having an emergency summit on drugs because of the seriousness of the issue. Several individuals and institutions have echoed similar sentiments in the past six months.

    Now that various institutions of the state are waking up to the need to take the drug problem seriously, it is about time that society gives this subject matter the attention and treatment it deserves as an urgent issue of national interest.

    Read Also: Tension as Senate meets over N3tr alleged padding of 2024 budget on Tuesday

    The drug abuse situation in Nigeria has been a source of worry since 2018, when a UNODC-supported national health and drug use survey showed that the country has a drug use prevalence of 14.4 per cent which translates to 14.4 million Nigerians abusing drugs. The same study showed that Nigeria has the largest number of users of cannabis in the world, estimated to be 10.6 million.

    In the past six years, more worrying facts have emerged from NDLEA arrests and seizures and other drug-influenced crises (such as the Mkpuru Mmiri epidemic in the Southeast in 2021) to show how deep abuse and trafficking of illicit drugs have become entrenched in our society. Just recently, there was a seizure of heroin worth 50.9 kilograms. This was barely 18 months after over 2,000 kilograms of cocaine were seized in Lagos.

    When all facts are added together, there’s no denying that illicit drugs are a serious problem in Nigeria and the situation has reached a tipping point where the declaration of a state of emergency is an appropriate response.

    With calls coming from the Senate and the Government Spouses Forum, it is about time the federal government pays serious attention to the country’s ‘silent drug pandemic’ before it gets out of hand and endangers more Nigerian lives.

    •Kalthum Alhassan,

    Tudun Wada, Kano.

  • Blind traffickers and the illicit drug menace

    Blind traffickers and the illicit drug menace

    Sir: The recent news of NDLEA’s bust of a syndicate of drug-trafficking blind men must have come as a rude shock to Nigerians. The story must have been greeted with incredulity because it beats the imagination of the average law-abiding citizen: How on earth could a group of four blind men be able to run a drug trafficking pipeline that connects Lagos to Kano?

    After Adamu Hassan, 40, was arrested in Gwagwalada, Abuja, the trio of Bello Abubakar, 45, Muktar Abubakar, 59, and Akilu Amadu, 25,  were nabbed in Lagos. A fourth member of the blind traffickers’ syndicate who was the de facto chief operating officer of the Kano end of the business, identified as Malam Aminu, is currently at large. 

    For those of us who are keen observers of the weekly NDLEA digest of arrests and seizures, this recently unravelled pattern of drug trafficking in Nigeria is further confirmation that drug trafficking was deeply entrenched in society before NDLEA regained its mojo under the retired but not tired Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa. Good enough, the anti-narcotics agency is doing a good job at foiling the various stratagems of drug trafficking syndicates.

    The waves of arrests by NDLEA have provided insight into Nigeria’s illicit drug situation. We have seen a series of arrests of the calibre of people who ordinarily society would not suspect of trafficking in drugs: women, children, religious figures, and people living with disabilities. These latest arrests involving four blind men further bust the bubble. If anything, it is a confirmation that the rot has eaten deep into our society.

    Read Also: NDLEA rearrests wanted Abuja drug kingpin seven years after escape from prison

    We must appreciate the effort of NDLEA operatives who are putting to shame the criminal ingenuity of drug traffickers. Given the agency’s track record of follow-up arrests, the public expects a complete unravelling of this shocking criminality by the syndicate of blind men in the weeks ahead.

    Having said that, we must not lose sight of the big picture: that we all must rise against this menace of drug trafficking. NDLEA must perform its role effectively, and society, namely you, me, and everybody else, must also support the agency to the hilt. Otherwise, we would all end up as secondary victims of drug abuse someday.

    We should remember that our children and wards are all out there in the larger society and if we fail to curb drug trafficking, those young ones may fall into the trap of illicit substances.

    Importantly, the government has a big role to play as well. The good performance of NDLEA should spur the government to provide the agency with the necessary resources to further raise its game.

    With all hands on deck, we can collectively crush the illicit drug menace before it becomes a Frankenstein monster that could devour our society.

    • Valentine Ikechukwu, Owerri, Imo State.