…sells skunk in sachets, says ‘I started business after fire razed my provision shop’
. NDLEA arrests daughter supplying her ‘consignment’ every four days
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother, Esther Ogunmabo, for dealing in illicit drugs.
The centenarian was arrested in Ilisan, Ogun State, with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 90 grammes, which she claimed to have been selling to locals.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday that the centenarian told operatives that she started engaging in the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was burnt down by fire.
According to the statement, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have recorded significant breakthroughs across the country’s land and maritime borders, including the arrest of a 101-year-old great-grandmother for dealing in illicit drugs.
“NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 15, 2026, arrested a 101-year-old woman, Esther Ogunmabo, in Ilisan, Ogun State, with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 90 grams, which she claims she sells to locals.
“The centenarian told operatives that she resorted to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire, adding that one of her daughters, who resides in Lagos, arranges the supply of the substance to her every four days, which she in turn sold in bits.”
Babafemi disclosed that the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), directed that the centenarian suspect be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age. Her daughter has already been arrested by the agency.
In a related development, NDLEA said its operatives in Akwa Ibom State, acting on credible intelligence, intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas on Friday, August 21, conveying illicit drugs to fishing settlements in the Republic of Cameroon.
The agency identified the three suspects arrested aboard the boat, which was heading to Ine Isu, Ine Mbah and Ine Ikot Itie Udung fishing ports in Cameroon, as Etima Effiong Eekpo, 29, caught with 1.120kg of skunk; Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, 33, who had 42.060kg of skunk in his possession; and 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, who was found with 20 grammes of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk.
“A total of 42.622kg of narcotics was recovered from the trio,” it added.
The statement added that in the nation’s maritime space, the agency recorded its first-ever seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor, following the interception of two containers of cannabis indica, also known as Loud, at the Apapa and Lekki ports, with a combined street value put at over N4.4bn.
“Both containers were loaded at the Port of Laem Chabang, Thailand, underscoring the emergence of a new trafficking route being exploited by drug syndicates to smuggle synthetic cannabis into the country.”
The NDLEA further stated that at the Apapa Port, a container declared to be conveying dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries was found, during a joint examination of the shipment on Friday, August 21, by its operatives, Customs and others, to contain 1,090.5kg 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, 19th August. Of the seven pallets found in the container wrapped in black nylon, four were confirmed to be laced with Thai Loud, yielding 96 cartons made up of 400 parcels weighing a total of 400kg. The remaining three pallets contained 798 rims of A4 paper, which had been used as cover for the consignment,” he said.
In the Federal Capital Territory, NDLEA said its operatives on Saturday, August 22, intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 pills of tramadol capsules inside a Hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba.
“A follow-up operation conducted in Niger State led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Sunday Eze, 28, in Kontagora, after which he was transferred to Abuja,” the statement said.
In Ondo, the agency said its operatives raided a cannabis farm at Ijare forest, Ifedore Local Government Area, on August 19, following the earlier arrest of three suspected cannabis planters at the same location on August 16.
NDLEA said, “The team destroyed a total of 10,000kg of skunk cultivated across four hectares of the forest. In a separate operation in the state, operatives same day at Ita-Ogbolu, Akure North LGA, recovered 210kg skunk and a Toyota Camry car with registration number AGL 223 JH belonging to Sylvester Dibiagu Anthony, who is currently at large.
“A raid at Hadeija Road, Kano, on Monday, August 17, led to the arrest of Chibuzor Madueke, 31, with 98 blocks of skunk weighing 73.3kg recovered from him, while a similar operation by NDLEA operatives at Seme, Badagry area of Lagos, led to the arrest of three family members: Nasiru Tijjani, 52; Moshood Tijjani, 27; and Salami Tijjani, 27, at Ashipa area, near the Seme border, with 48kg of skunk.
“In Abia State, NDLEA officers on Thursday, August 20, raided the residence of Ikechukwu Anthony Iwuno, 36, at Umuobia Olokoro area of Umuahia South LGA, where 14.4kg Loud, 2.3kg Colorado, 386 grammes of tramadol and 134 grammes of rohypnol were recovered.”
Marwa, who commended the officers and men of the Ogun, Apapa, Lekki, Seme, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Oyo, Kwara, Kano, Abia and FCT Commands for the various successful operations, enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the current balanced approach to the drug-control efforts of the NDLEA.
