96-Year-Old Ex-Soldier, Trans-Border Drug Traffickers Arrested In Niger

A file photo of an official of the NDLEA backing the camera.

A 96-year-old retired soldier, Joseph Owherhi has been arrested in Suleja by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for dealing in illicit drugs.

NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi confirmed the arrest in a statement on Tuesday. He said the nonagenarian was arrested with three kilograms of skunk in his house at Rafin Sanyi area of the Niger State capital on Sunday.

According to the agency, Owherhi in his statement confessed that he has been living on the illicit trade since he retired from the military in 1982.

The suspect also claimed he has eight wives and 50 children.

Meanwhile, four trans-border drug traffickers have been arrested in Adamawa State. They were attempting to cross the land border on a motorcycle in Kolere village, Mubi North LGA to Cameroon on Sunday with packs of Tramadol concealed inside noodle cartons.

The suspects include Ibrahim Aliyu; Umar Mohammed; Aliyu Adamu; and Usman Adamu. Narcotic officers had during a raid the previous day arrested a drug dealer, Chimezie Okorie at Layin ‘Yan Gwanjo, Mubi market where assorted drugs such as 23kg of Tramadol and 32kg of Diazepam injection were recovered from him.

Suspected Drug Dealer Arrested In Church
In Oyo state, a 35-year-old fashion designer, Abiodun Abubakar was on Monday arrested at Bodija Market, Ibadan North LGA with 24.2kg of Cannabis Sativa.

The NDLEA stated that in Lagos, coordinated sting operations across parts of the state especially Itedo community, Lekki, and Petti in Lagos Island led to the arrest of 13 suspects namely: Eze Beckee; Lateef Habib; Olayemi Temitope; Abdullaziz Sheriff; Yakwan Michael; Nora Omoruyi; Hamson Igbokwe; Ugwu Augustine; Akin Lawanson; Ibrahim Isa; Emeka Nwafor; Obi Price and Daniel Chukwuebuka. A total of 238 kilograms of cannabis and two grams of cocaine were recovered from them.

Meanwhile, in Kogi State, one Chizoba Francis was also arrested at the weekend in Lokoja with 54kg of cannabis hidden in sacks and covered with used footwear.

The consignment was bought at Emure, Ondo state with Kaduna as the destination. A similar case was recorded in the state where NDLEA operatives equally recovered 308 kilograms of compressed cannabis loaded into a Lexus car during a sting operation in the Eleyewo area of Akure North LGA over the weekend.

While commending the officers and men of Niger, Adamawa, Lagos, Ondo, Kogi, and Oyo commands of the agency for their relentless efforts, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa charged them and their counterparts across the country not to rest on their oars in the ongoing offensive action against drug cartels in Nigeria.