The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 70-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Rabiu Wada, said to be supplying substances to Boko Haram insurgents and bandits.
The agency said the suspect, who hails from Dallawa town in Niger Republic, was arrested on Thursday in Niger State with 10 pallets of skunk.
A statement by the spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Saturday said Wada had brought hide from Niger Republic and sold it in Lagos.
The statement read, “During interrogation, the suspect claimed he sold his goods for N300,000 in Lagos and used the fund to buy 10 pallets of skunk at N25,000 each. He was on his way back to Niger Republic through the North-West where he sells drugs to bandits when he was intercepted in Jebba.”
The Commander, Niger State Command of the NDLEA, Aloye Isaac, said the arrest was a further confirmation of the nexus between drug abuse and the security challenges in parts of the country.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in an operation backed by soldiers in Ondo State have identified and destroyed 95 hectares of three cannabis farms located in Ogbese forest.
The Ondo state Commander of the agency, Haruna Gagara, said although no one was arrested during the operation, investigation had commenced to identify and apprehend the owners of the farms.
Also, operatives of the agency in Kogi State have seized 116.1 kilogrammes of cannabis at a patrol point along Okene-Lokoja Expressway. A suspect, Sulaiman Said, was arrested.
The statement added, “Kogi State Commander of NDLEA, Alfred Adewumi, said the drug was concealed in sacks of chicken wastes loaded in a Mercedes-Benz 814 Truck with registration number, Taraba XA 366 ARD.”