The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly supplying illicit substances to teenage secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State, as the Agency intensified nationwide operations that also led to major drug seizures and the arrest of several suspects across the country.
According to an official signed statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, the 75-year-old suspect, Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, was arrested on Friday, 19 June 2026, following credible intelligence that he was selling illicit substances to students and other members of the public from his patent medicine store located at 4 Club Road, Umuahia.
The statement disclosed that a search of the premises led to the recovery of 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
Similarly, an 84-year-old pensioner, Godfrey Orji, was apprehended after he was caught supplying illicit drugs to two teenage students of Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia. He was initially arrested by the school’s security personnel and subsequently handed over to the police before being transferred to NDLEA custody on Thursday, 18 June.
One of the teenagers, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School Two student, reportedly confessed that Orji regularly supplied him with drugs, which he consumed and also sold to fellow students.
While the two elderly suspects are expected to face prosecution, the affected students have been placed on counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives intercepted a consignment of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous New Psychoactive Substance, at a courier company in Lagos. The 9.5-kilogram shipment, concealed in a carton and originating from China, was seized during a routine inspection.
The Agency also intercepted 300 grams of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis concealed in ladies’ handbags at another logistics company in Lagos on Tuesday, 16 June.
Further operations in Lagos led to the raid of the residence of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, also known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ogombo area of Ajah on Friday, 19 June. NDLEA operatives recovered nine bottles of codeine syrup and 30 grams of skunk during the operation.
A follow-up raid on a shop belonging to his wife, Aisha Saraki, at Patey on Lagos Island resulted in the recovery of two additional bottles of codeine, drug paraphernalia, and 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5 kilograms concealed inside a minibus parked outside the premises. The statement noted that operatives thwarted an attempt by Saraki to dispose of some drug exhibits by flushing them down a toilet.
In Kogi State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja Highway intercepted a 33-year-old suspect, Tochukwu Onah, travelling from Lagos to Abuja with 1.030 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers.
The Agency also announced the arrest of a wanted couple, James Tony Chukwudi, 48, and James Kehinde, 35, in Ekiti State. The duo had been on the run since the seizure of 117 kilograms of skunk linked to them on 26 March 2026. They were eventually apprehended on Tuesday, 16 June, at Oniyo Street, Efon-Alaaye-Ekiti.
In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives arrested 75-year-old Tudun Olubiyi alongside Nasiru Buhari, 22, and Buba Musa, 47, during a raid on their residence in the Dangote area of Elekara, Oyo Town. The operation led to the recovery of 118 jumbo bags containing 1,416 kilograms of skunk hidden beneath sawdust.
In Edo State, a raid on Khagba Forest in Ikao, Owan East Local Government Area led to the destruction of 1,744.075 kilograms of skunk and the recovery of an additional 169 kilograms of processed cannabis. A suspect, Patrick Imoukhede, 45, was arrested during the operation.
Another raid at Ebora Camp in Ilushi, Esan South Local Government Area, resulted in the destruction of 2,424.945 kilograms of cannabis, while a separate operation in the same area led to the arrest of Augustine Anyamone, 45, with 395 kilograms of skunk.
The statement added that NDLEA Commands and formations across the country sustained the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools, communities, workplaces and places of worship. Educational outreach activities were conducted in Ekiti, Kano, Nasarawa, Katsina and Anambra States, while the Rivers State Command paid an advocacy visit to the Paramount Ruler of Rumuogba Kingdom, HRH Barrister Temple Ejekwu.
Commending officers and personnel of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation as well as Commands in Abia, Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos, Kogi and Edo States, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised their commitment to reducing drug supply while simultaneously advancing drug abuse prevention campaigns across the country.
He urged operatives nationwide to remain steadfast in their efforts and sustain the momentum in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.
