The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly supplying and selling illicit drugs to secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State.
Detailing the arrest of the first suspect, Babafemi said, “Pa Obiora was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Friday, 19th June 2026, following credible intelligence that he was selling illicit substances to young students and others in his patent medicine store located at 4 Club Road, Umuahia, where 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam, were recovered from him during a search of his premises.” The agency further disclosed that Orji, a pensioner, was caught by security guards at Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia, while supplying illicit drugs to two teenage students on the school premises. Commenting on the second grandfather's apprehension, Babafemi stated, “In his case, Pa Orji, who is a pensioner and also into the illicit drug trade, was nabbed by security guards at Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia, for supplying illicit drugs to two teenage students in the school. The guards thereafter handed them over to the police, who in turn transferred them to NDLEA on Thursday, 18th June,”
The agency added that one of the apprehended teenagers, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two student, confessed during interrogation that the octogenarian was his regular drug dealer. The statement added, “In his statement, one of the two teenagers, a 15-year-old SS2 student, claimed the 84-year-old grandpa supplies him the drugs, which he takes and also sells to fellow students,” Following the arrests, the NDLEA indicated that while the two elderly suspects will face criminal prosecution in court, the affected students have been enrolled in comprehensive counseling and rehabilitation programs to facilitate their recovery.
Alongside the Abia operations, the agency announced a series of major drug busts and arrests across other states in the federation. In Lagos, antinarcotics operatives intercepted a 9.5-kilogram consignment of ADB-Chminaca, a dangerous synthetic cannabinoid classified as a new psychoactive substance, at a courier firm where it arrived concealed in a carton from China. Furthermore, a separate operation carried out on June 16 resulted in the recovery of 300 grams of Loud, a high-potency strain of cannabis, which was hidden inside ladies' handbags at a logistics company in Lagos State.
Operatives in Lagos also tracked down and raided the residence of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, popularly known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ajah area. Highlighting the operation, Babafemi said, “In another interdiction operation in Lagos, NDLEA officers on Friday, 19th June, raided the home of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus (a.k.a. Lukman Ogombo), in Ogombo area of Ajah, where nine bottles of codeine syrup and 30 grams of skunk were recovered,” The agency expanded its raid to the shop of the suspect's wife on Lagos Island, where operatives intercepted an escape and disposal attempt. Babafemi stated, “A swift follow-up operation at Lukman’s wife’s shop in Patey area of Lagos Island led to the recovery of additional two bottles of codeine and drug paraphernalia, while 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5kg were also recovered from a mini-bus parked in front of her shop. Attempt by the wife, Aisha Saraki, to flush some of the drug exhibits in the toilet during the raid was thwarted by operatives,”
In Kogi State, a 33-year-old traveler identified as Tochukwu Onah was intercepted by NDLEA officers along the Okene to Lokoja Highway with 1.030 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside custard containers while making a journey from Lagos to Abuja. The agency also apprehended James Tony Chukwudi, 48, and James Kehinde, 35, two suspects who had been on the wanted list since March in connection with a 117-kilogram skunk seizure in Ekiti State.
In a separate operation in Oyo State, a 75-year-old suspect named Tudun Olubiyi was arrested alongside Nasiru Buhari, 22, and Buba Musa, 47, during a well-coordinated raid on a residence situated in the Dangote area of Elekara, Oyo Town. During the sweep, operatives successfully uncovered “118 jumbo bags containing 1,416kg of skunk covered with sawdust” within the building.
Meanwhile, massive eradication operations were executed in Edo State, where NDLEA officers raided vast cannabis plantations located within the Khagba Forest in Ikao, Owan East Local Government Area. The team destroyed a total of 1,744.075 kilograms of skunk on the farms and retrieved 169 kilograms of already processed cannabis. Another field operation at the Ebora Camp in Ilushi, situated within the Esan South Local Government Area, culminated in the destruction of 2,424.945 kilograms of cannabis plants, while a 45-year-old suspect, Augustine Anyamone, was caught at the camp with 395 kilograms of processed skunk.
Reacting to the successful sweeps, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the exceptional performance of the officers across the Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos, Kogi, and Edo state commands. Marwa pointed out that the consistent breakthroughs in disrupting drug supply pipelines are being properly backed by the intensive public sensitization efforts of the War Against Drug Abuse campaign. The agency boss subsequently charged command personnel across the country “not to rest on their laurels” as they work to systematically eradicate drug trafficking and substance abuse nationwide.
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