The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has apprehended two elderly residents of Abia State for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to secondary school students in Umuahia.
The suspects, identified as 84-year-old Godfrey Orji and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, were arrested in separate operations following intelligence gathering and security interventions.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Obiora was taken into custody after reports linked him to the distribution of controlled substances through his patent medicine store.
Babafemi stated, “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 second suspect, Orji, a pensioner, allegedly supplied drugs to students of Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia before being intercepted.
“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,” Babafemi stated.
Investigations revealed that one of the students involved allegedly obtained drugs from the suspect on a regular basis.
“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,” the statement added.
The anti-narcotics agency said the elderly suspects would face prosecution, while the students have been enrolled in rehabilitation and counselling programmes.
Beyond the Abia arrests, the agency reported a series of anti-drug operations across several states.
In Lagos, operatives intercepted 9.5 kilograms of ADB-Chminaca, a synthetic psychoactive substance, hidden inside a package that arrived from China through a courier service. Another operation uncovered 300 grams of Loud, a strong cannabis variant, concealed in women’s handbags at a logistics facility.
NDLEA officers also raided the residence of a wanted suspect, Lukman Badmus, popularly known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ajah area of Lagos.
“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,” Babafemi said.
The agency said a subsequent search at the suspect’s wife’s shop yielded more drug exhibits.
“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,” he said.
Other operations led to the arrest of a suspect transporting methamphetamine along the Okene-Lokoja highway, while two wanted suspects linked to an earlier seizure of 117kg of skunk in Ekiti State were also apprehended.
In Oyo State, operatives recovered a massive quantity of skunk during a raid that resulted in the arrest of three suspects, including a 75-year-old man.
Babafemi said operatives recovered “118 jumbo bags containing 1,416kg of skunk covered with sawdust” during the operation.
Meanwhile, extensive cannabis farms in Edo State were destroyed, with thousands of kilograms of the substance eradicated and another suspect arrested.
Commending officers involved in the nationwide operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised commands in the affected states and urged operatives to sustain the momentum.
He charged officers across the country “not to rest on their laurels” in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
