By Omoyeni Ojeifo
An 84-year-old pensioner and a 75-year-old patent medicine dealer are among suspects arrested in a series of nationwide drug operations by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), with raids and major seizures recorded across multiple States.
Details of the operations were disclosed in a statement emailed to Persecondnews by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi on Sunday.
In Abia State, on Thursday, June 18, 2026, 84-year-old pensioner Godfrey Orji was apprehended by security guards at Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia, for supplying illicit drugs to two teenage students whose names were withheld.
The security guards handed them over to the police, who subsequently transferred them to NDLEA.
During interrogation, one of the teenagers, a 15-year-old SS2 student, confessed that the 84-year-old supplied him with the drugs, which he consumed and also sold to fellow students.
Also in Abia State, NDLEA operatives, acting on credible intelligence, arrested 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora on Friday, June 19, 2026, over alleged illicit drug sales to young students and other users.
A search of his patent medicine store at 4 Club Road, Umuahia, resulted in the recovery of 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
While both elderly suspects are expected to face prosecution, the students have been placed on counselling and rehabilitation.
Similarly, 75-year-old Tudun Olubiyi, alongside Nasiru Buhari, 22, and Buba Musa, 47, were arrested on Saturday, June 20, 2026, NDLEA operatives raided a house in the Dangote area of Elekara, Oyo town, Oyo State.
The operation led to the recovery of 118 jumbo bags containing 1,416 kilograms of skunk concealed with sawdust.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives intercepted a consignment of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous new psychoactive substance, at a courier firm in Lagos.
The shipment, which came from China with a gross weight of 9.5 kilograms, was concealed in a carton.
Similarly, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, operatives made another seizure at a different logistics company in Lagos where 300 grams of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, was discovered hidden in ladies’ handbags.
Elsewhere in Lagos, on Friday, June 19, 2026, NDLEA officers raided the residence of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, also known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ogombo area of Ajah, recovering nine bottles of codeine syrup and 30 grams of skunk.
An immediate follow-up operation at the shop of his wife, Aisha Saraki, in the Patey area of Lagos Island led to the recovery of an additional two bottles of codeine and drug paraphernalia, while 42 compressed blocks of skunk, weighing 22.5 kilograms, were found and recovered inside a mini bus parked in front of her shop.
Operatives also foiled an attempt by her to dispose of some of the exhibits by flushing them in a toilet during the raid.
In another raid on Friday, June 19, 2026, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja Highway, Kogi State, intercepted 33-year-old Tochukwu Onah, who was travelling from Lagos to Abuja with 1.030 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers.
On Tuesday, June 16, 2026, a couple, James Tony Chukwudi, 48, and James Kehinde, 35, who had been wanted in connection with the seizure of 117 kilograms of skunk on March 26, 2026, in Ekiti State, were arrested at Oniyo Street, Efon-Alaaye, after months on the run.
Also on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, NDLEA officers raided Khagba Forest in Ikao, Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, where they destroyed 1,744.075 kilograms of skunk and recovered an additional 169 kilograms of the processed substance.
In a separate raid at Ebora Camp, Ilushi, Esan South Local Government Area, 45-year-old Augustine Anyamone was apprehended with 395 kilograms of skunk.
Alongside enforcement operations, NDLEA commands and formations across the country sustained their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The outreach activities featured enlightenment lectures at Orun Community Grammar School, Orun Ekiti; Government Girls Secondary School, Charanchi, Bichi, Kano; Federal Technical College, Doma, Nasarawa; Tafida Community Secondary School, Zango, Katsina; and Government Technical College, Onitsha, Anambra.
The Rivers State Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Paramount Ruler of Rumuogba Kingdom, Rivers State, HRH Barr. Temple Ejekwu, among others.
Retired Brig.-Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa, NDLEA Chairman/CEO, while commending officers for the arrest and seizures nationwide, said the agency’s drug supply reduction efforts remained matched with sustained WADA sensitization drives, urging officers nationwide not to relent in their operations.
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