NDLEA arrests 101-year-old woman for selling cannabis in Ogun

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 101-year-old woman for allegedly selling cannabis in Ilisan, Ogun State.

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According to a statement on Sunday by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the woman, Esther Ogunmabo, was arrested on 15 August with 90 grammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, packaged in small sachets, the agency said in a statement on Sunday.

During questioning, Ms Ogunmabo reportedly told NDLEA operatives that she took up the drug trade after a fire destroyed her provisions shop.

She said one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, supplied her with cannabis every four days, which she then sold in small quantities.

Because of her age, the NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, directed that the woman be granted bail and placed on counselling.

Her daughter was also arrested over her alleged involvement in supplying the drug.

The case adds to recent arrests by the NDLEA involving elderly Nigerians accused of dealing in illicit drugs.

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In June, the agency arrested two men aged 84 and 75 in Umuahia, Abia State, for allegedly supplying illicit substances to secondary school students.

One of them, Godfrey Orji, 84, was arrested after security guards at Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia, reportedly caught him supplying drugs to two teenage students.

The other suspect, 75-year-old Godwin Obiora, was arrested at his patent medicine shop on Club Road, Umuahia, following intelligence that he was selling illicit substances to young people.

The NDLEA stated that 4.64kg of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam, were recovered from Mr Obiora’s shop.

A 15-year-old student allegedly told investigators that Mr Orji supplied him with drugs, which he used and also sold to other students.

READ ALSO: NDLEA seizes N4.4bn ‘Thai Loud’ at Lagos ports, uncovers new trafficking route

The two students were subsequently placed on counselling and rehabilitation, according to the agency.

The statement also announced the arrest of a 65-year-old woman, Adebayo Kaosarat, in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday.

She was arrested at Akobo-Ojuirin with 1.795kg of Scottish Loud, 1.66kg of tramadol, 600 grammes of codeine syrup, 125 grammes of diazepam and 50 grammes of flunitrazepam.

Mr Marwa, a retired brigadier general, commended NDLEA officers involved in the recent operations and urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s efforts against illicit drug trafficking.