Elderly men detained for alleged narcotics smuggling in Abia and Ekiti states

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended an 83-year-old grandfather, Pa John Ofiel, and a 78-year-old grandpa, Ogunjobi Samuel, as part of a nationwide crackdown on illicit drug traffickers and dealers.

Spokesman Femi Babafemi confirmed the arrests, stating that Pa Ofiel was caught on Tuesday, 28th April 2026, during a raid at Samek by Powerline, Aba, Abia state, after receiving credible intelligence about his involvement in illicit substances.

At the time of his arrest, 700 grams of skunk, a strain of cannabis, packaged in retail sachets were found in his possession, and Pa Ofiel claimed to have been a professional shoemaker before entering the illicit drug trade.

In a similar incident, NDLEA operatives in Ekiti state arrested 78-year-old Ogunjobi Samuel on Thursday, 30th April, at his residence on H22 Owode Street, Ilupeju-Ekiti, and seized 350 grams of the same psychoactive substance from him.

Meanwhile, in Oyo state, two ladies, 24-year-old Rebecca King and 31-year-old Olaniyan Opeyemi, were arrested by NDLEA operatives in connection with the seizure of 1.925kg of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis.

Rebecca was caught conveying the consignment along the Lagos/Ibadan expressway on Wednesday, 29th April, while Opeyemi was arrested in a follow-up operation at Iwo road, Ibadan, when she attempted to take delivery of the cargo.

A notorious drug dealer, 49-year-old Taofik Adeyemi, was arrested on Saturday, 2nd May, along with his salesman, 28-year-old Mustapha Oyerinde, at his residence in the Erunmu area of the state capital, after months of evading arrest.

Two of Taofik's associates, Abiodun Abiola and Aderinde Ibrahim, had been arrested on 8th December 2025 and are currently being prosecuted at a Federal High Court in Ibadan, and at the time of Taofik's arrest, 3.085 kilograms of skunk and a Toyota Camry car marked EPE 299 JZ were recovered from him.

In Osun state, 65-year-old driver Oladayo Awoyemi was arrested on Thursday, 30th April, at the Ile-Ife toll gate along the Ibadan/Ilesha expressway, while conveying a cartoon containing 7kg of skunk and 15grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle with registration number LES 114 AG.

A follow-up operation in Ilesha town led to the arrest of the actual owner of the consignment, 40-year-old Ifedayo Babalola.

NDLEA operatives arrested 27-year-old suspect Yahaya Shehu on Wednesday, 29th April, while on patrol along the Damaturu-Maiduguri road in Borno state, following credible intelligence, resulting in the seizure of 76,440 pills of Tramadol 225mg.

In another operation in Borno, a truck driver, 30-year-old Magaji Isa, was arrested after the interception of 14,000 capsules of Tramadol, and a follow-up operation in Biu led to the arrest of the owner, 28-year-old Abdulhamid Mahmud.

NDLEA officers on patrol along the Abuja/Jos/Kaduna highway intercepted a Honda Ridgeline vehicle marked KSF 65 EQ on Saturday, 2nd May, and recovered 393 blocks of compressed blocks of skunk weighing 290 kilograms from two suspects, 36-year-old Ojo Major Ebose and 32-year-old Chika Obiechefula.

No fewer than 49,800 capsules of Tramadol were seized from two suspects, 50-year-old Ahmed Garba (a.k.a Fangale) and 41-year-old Sale Mohammed, along Bauchi road, Hadejia, Jigawa state on Friday, 1st May.