Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two elderly men, aged 84 and 75, for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to secondary school students in Umuahia, Abia State.
The agency said the suspects, Godfrey Orji, 84, and Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, 75, were apprehended in separate operations following intelligence and surveillance efforts.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Obiora was arrested on June 19 at his patent medicine store in Umuahia, where operatives recovered 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
“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,” Babafemi said.
The agency said Orji, a pensioner, was arrested after he was caught supplying illicit drugs to two students of Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia.
“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,” the statement added.
Babafemi disclosed that one of the students, a 15-year-old SS2 pupil, admitted during interrogation that Orji regularly supplied him with drugs for personal use and resale.
“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,” he said.
The NDLEA said the two suspects would face prosecution, while the affected students had been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
The agency also reported major drug seizures across the country, including the interception of 9.5kg of synthetic cannabinoid imported from China in Lagos, the arrest of a suspect transporting methamphetamine along the Okene-Lokoja Highway in Kogi State, and the recovery of 1,416kg of skunk during a raid in Oyo State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged personnel nationwide to sustain the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
