By Attah Ede
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has again rearrested an 83-year old Mrs Uloma Uchechi Sunday with methamphetamine and synthetic cannabis strapped around her waist.
The octogenarian was arrested at a village in southeastern Abia state, with two grammes of cannabis and seven grammes of meth following a tip-off.
The NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi stated this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.
He said the old woman was first arrested and convicted last year alongside her 32-year-old daughter for possessing various amounts of meth, tramadol, fresh cannabis leaves and synthetic cannabis.
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to either a year in jail or the option of a 200,000 naira ($150) fine. She paid the fine and was released.
“At 83, most grandmothers are asking for rest. Not Mrs Uloma Uchechi Sunday, who was arrested again… barely a year after she was nabbed, prosecuted and convicted for the same offence.
“Undeterred, the notorious old woman promptly returned to the criminal trade and escalated the scale by setting up a drug joint where she harbours dangerous characters,” said Babafemi.
Nigeria has been considered a trafficking and production hub for drugs bound for other countries, but researchers and healthcare workers say the contraband spills into local markets.
A 2024 UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report showed that heroin and meth from Asia also pass through West Africa, en route east and southern Africa towards Europe.
