In a rare gesture, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has granted bail to Esther Ogunmabo, a Centenarian arrested for selling cannabis in Ilisan, Ogun State.
Due to her age, NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa directed that Ogunmabo be granted bail and placed on counselling, while her daughter was also arrested over her alleged role in supplying the cannabis.
Ogunmabo was arrested with 90 grammes of cannabis, popularly known as skunk, packaged in small sachets, according to a statement issued by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi. The agency said she told investigators that she turned to the illicit drug trade after a fire destroyed her provisions shop.
Ogunmabo said one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, supplied her with cannabis every four days, which she then sold in small quantities.
Due to her age, NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa directed that Ogunmabo be granted bail and placed on counselling, while her daughter was also arrested over her alleged role in supplying the cannabis.
The arrest is among recent NDLEA operations involving elderly Nigerians accused of engaging in illicit drug activities.
In June, the agency arrested two men, aged 84 and 75, in Umuahia, Abia State, for allegedly supplying illicit substances to secondary school students.
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One of them, 84-year-old Godfrey Orji, 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 allegedly selling illicit substances to young people.
The NDLEA said 4.64 kilogrammes of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam, were recovered from Obiora’s shop.
A 15-year-old student reportedly told investigators that Orji supplied him with drugs, which he used and also sold to other students. The two students were subsequently placed on counselling and rehabilitation, according to the agency.
The NDLEA statement also announced the arrest of a 65-year-old woman, Adebayo Kaosarat, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Kaosarat was arrested in the Akobo-Ojuirin area with 1.795 kilogrammes of Scottish Loud, 1.66 kilogrammes of tramadol, 600 grammes of codeine syrup, 125 grammes of diazepam and 50 grammes of flunitrazepam, the agency said.
Marwa commended NDLEA officers involved in the recent operations and urged personnel across the country to sustain efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking.
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