By Uzair Adam
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State.
The suspects, identified as Godfrey Orji, 84, and Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, 75, were apprehended in separate operations following intelligence reports and investigations by the agency.
According to the NDLEA, Obiora was arrested on Friday, June 19, 2026, after intelligence revealed that he was allegedly selling illicit substances, including opioids, from a patent medicine store on Club Road in Umuahia.
A search of the shop led to the recovery of 4.64 kilograms of drugs, including tramadol and diazepam.
In a separate incident, Orji, a pensioner, was arrested after security personnel at Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia reportedly caught him supplying drugs to two teenage students.
He was initially handed over to the police before being transferred to the NDLEA on June 18 for further investigation.
The agency said one of the students, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) student, confessed that Orji supplied him with drugs, which he in turn distributed to other students within the school.
NDLEA said both suspects would face prosecution, while the students involved have been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
Elsewhere, the agency intercepted a 9.5-kilogram consignment of ADB-Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous psychoactive substance, at a courier company in Lagos.
The shipment, which originated from China, was concealed inside a carton.
Operatives also recovered 300 grams of “Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis, hidden inside ladies’ handbags at a logistics company in Lagos.
In another operation, NDLEA officers raided the residence of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, in the Ogombo area of Ajah, Lagos, where they recovered codeine syrup and skunk.
A follow-up raid at his wife’s shop led to the seizure of additional drugs and related items. The agency said attempts to destroy evidence were thwarted by operatives.
In Kogi State, officers intercepted a suspect transporting methamphetamine concealed in custard containers along the Okene-Lokoja highway.
Meanwhile, a couple who had been on the run following the seizure of 117 kilograms of cannabis in Ekiti State were also arrested.
In Oyo State, three suspects were arrested during a raid on a building in the Dangote area of Oyo town, where operatives recovered 1,416 kilograms of skunk concealed in jumbo sacks covered with sawdust.
The agency further disclosed that several forest operations in Edo State resulted in the destruction of large cannabis plantations and the arrest of suspects linked to drug cultivation and trafficking.
NDLEA said it has continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across schools, places of worship and communities nationwide as part of efforts to combat substance abuse.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the ongoing nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking and abuse.
