Esther Ogunmabo Was Arrested on Saturday, August 15, in Ilisan, Ogun State, With Retail Sachets of Skunk Weighing 90 Grammes in Nigeria

A 101-year-old great-grandmother has been arrested in Nigeria for allegedly selling cannabis, as drug enforcement officers intercepted cocaine concealed inside fufu and seized more than ₦4.4 billion worth of imported cannabis in separate operations across the country. Esther Ogunmabo was arrested on Saturday, August 15, in Ilisan, Ogun State, with retail sachets of skunk weighing 90 grammes. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says the centenarian told operatives she resorted to selling the illicit drug after her provisions shop was destroyed by fire.

She said one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, arranges the supply of the substance every four days, which she then sells in smaller quantities to locals. NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa directed that Ogunmabo be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age. Her daughter has also been arrested.

In Akwa Ibom State, operatives acting on credible intelligence intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas on Friday, August 21, conveying illicit drugs towards fishing settlements in Cameroon. Three suspects were arrested on board: 29-year-old Etima Effiong Eekpo, allegedly caught with 1.120 kilogrammes of skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33, with 42.060 kilogrammes of skunk; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, allegedly found with 20 grammes of cocaine concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk. A total of 42.622 kilogrammes of narcotics was recovered from the three suspects.

The boat was heading towards Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports in Cameroon. At Nigeria's maritime borders, the NDLEA recorded its first seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor. Two containers of cannabis indica, also known as Loud, were intercepted at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos, with a combined street value of more than ₦4.4 billion.

Both containers were loaded at the Port of Laem Chabang in Thailand, in what the NDLEA says points to an emerging trafficking route being exploited by drug syndicates to smuggle synthetic cannabis into Nigeria. At Apapa Port, a container declared as carrying dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries was jointly examined by the NDLEA, Customs and other agencies on Friday, August 21. The container was found to hold 1,090.5 kilogrammes of Thai Loud packed in 54 cartons comprising 2,181 sachets of 500 grammes each. At the Lekki Deep Sea Port, a similar container which had been placed on the agency's watchlist and monitored by its Marine Special Operations Unit was jointly examined on Wednesday, August 19. Seven pallets wrapped in black nylon were found inside.

Four contained Thai Loud, 96 cartons comprising 400 parcels weighing a total of 400 kilogrammes. The remaining three pallets contained 798 reams of A4 paper, which the agency says were used as cover for the consignment. In the Federal Capital Territory, operatives on Saturday, August 22, intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 tramadol capsules inside a Hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba.

A follow-up operation in Niger State led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, 28-year-old Sunday Eze, in Kontagora. He was subsequently transferred to Abuja. In Ondo State, operatives raided a cannabis farm at Ijare Forest in Ifedore Local Government Area on Wednesday, August 19. The raid followed the earlier arrest of three suspected cannabis planters at the same location on August 16. The team destroyed 10,000 kilogrammes of skunk cultivated across four hectares of the forest.

In a separate operation the same day at Ita-Ogbolu in Akure North Local Government Area, operatives recovered 210 kilogrammes of skunk and a Toyota Camry with registration number AGL 223 JH. The vehicle belongs to Sylvester Dibiagu Anthony, who the agency says is currently at large. In Kwara State, operatives patrolling the Ogbomosho-Ilorin Expressway on Friday, August 21, intercepted a Toyota Starlet without a registration number.

A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 1.325 kilogrammes of methamphetamine wrapped in black nylon bags, alongside quantities of cannabis sativa. Twenty-two-year-old Muhammadu Usman was arrested in connection with the seizure.