A 76-year-old grandfather, Osagie Robert, and a suspected fake security agent, Godwin Ilevbare, aka Edwin Agbon, have been arrested by personnel of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Edo State.
A statement on Sunday by the spokesperson for the agency, Femi Babafemi, said the septuagenarian, popularly called Old Soldier, was arrested on Friday, January 7, 2022, in Egor, in the Oredo area of the state for dealing in cannabis.
According to him, Ilevbare was nabbed during a controlled delivery of a consignment shipped into Nigeria through a courier company.
Babafemi said, “Soon after the suspect signed for the consignment, undercover operatives embedded in the courier firm arrested him at his apartment in Benin city on Tuesday, January 4.
“The consignment, which emanated from Canada, contains colorado brand of cannabis concealed inside chocolates and cookies weighing 6.491 kilogrammes, while the drug cookies and chocolates weighed 5.566kg and 0.383kg, respectively.’’
Meanwhile, a passenger of an Ethiopian airline, Iloduba Augustine, who arrived at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was on New Year’s Eve arrested and placed on observation during which he confessed to have swallowed 58 pellets of cocaine.
The NDLEA said the 48-year-old suspect claimed that he excreted 48 pellets, which were delivered to a Kenyan while on transit in Addis Ababa for a fee of N1m.
He was said to have continued his journey to Nigeria with the remaining 10 pellets in his stomach, which he reportedly intended to sell in Lagos.
“The wraps of cocaine were later excreted at 10.40am on New Year’s Day, January 1,” the agency added.
In Niger State, 23-year-old Simon Richard, a 500-level student of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Federal University of Technology, Minna, was arrested on the Gidan Kwano Talba Road, Minna, with different quantities of Loud and tramadol on Thursday, January 6, while in Benue State, a 21-year-old lady, Shidoo Ben, was arrested with 14 pinches of crack cocaine at Jada Hotel, Otukpo, on Friday, January 7. Ben was said to have travelled from Abuja to sell the drug in Benue.
Also, a raid on Jigbele Lota camp, Owo area of Ondo State, reportedly led to the recovery of 598kg of cannabis and the arrest of one Chukwuemeka Azi on Thursday, January 6.
In a related development, the Delta State Police Command said it arrested a 53-year-old woman, Gift Ahemte, alongside a 25-year-old man, Musa Abdullahi, with 8kg of Indian hemp, among other drugs.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, who disclosed this on Saturday in Asaba, noted that the command’s crack squad had raided a hideout in Agbor, in the Ika South Local Government Area of the state.
He said, “The team raided a criminal hideout in Agbor metropolis and arrested Musa Abdullahi, 25, and Gift Ahemte, a 53-year-old woman.
“Items recovered from them included 8kg of Indian hemp, volume 5 and swinol drugs.
“Similarly, on January 7, the crack surveillance team also raided a criminal hideout in Issele-Asagba, where a 32-year-old lady, Blessing Nwabuokei, was arrested with 12kg of weed suspected to be Indian hemp and some quantities of cocaine. Investigation is ongoing.” – Punch.
