IN a bid to combat the use of hard drugs like cannabis sativa, cocaine, heroin, among others, which had been daid to be responsible for the way many are taking to crime, security agencies in Oyo State carried out a five-day joint patrol from Thursday August 29 to September 2, during which 126 suspects were arrested at different joints in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The security agents who included operatives from Operation Burst, Directorate of State Services, Nigerian Security, Nigerian Prison Services and Civil Defence Corps and Federal Road Safety Corps were led by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Briefing journalists who went with the operatives on the last day of the raid, the Commander of the NDLEA in Oyo State, Mrs Omolade Faboyede, said that the way cannabis sativa, popularly known as Indian hemp was being smoked had become so worrisome that she had to initiate the idea to raid dark spots in Oyo State, with Ibadan city as a kickoff point.
According to Mrs Faboyede, “we became worried about the way marijuana was being smoked. This made the NDLEA to seek the support of other security agencies in Oyo State to do a joint operation so that we could dismantle those joints and those criminal hideouts.
“On the first day of our outing which was Thursday, we were able to arrest 36 suspects. Some of them were found to have criminal tendencies. Some were kept with the NDLEA while others who had issues that are related with police work were transferred to the Oyo State Police Command.
“On Friday, we picked 71 suspects and we found out that most of them were drug addicts. They were caught smoking but did not have any exhibits. On Friday, we had 19 suspects.”
Mrs Aboyede disclosed further that a total of 48.4kg of cannabis sativa was recovered as exhibit, as well as dangerous weapons some of the suspects used in attacking NDLEA officials whenever they went on raids.
Places raided include Akinyele, Beere, Olomi, Academy, Challenge, Oje, Iwo Road, Oja-Oba, Molete, Monatan and a village in Kara where the Commander said that the operatives arrested people printing fake receipts for government revenue.
She also said that operatives stumbled on some suspects who were defrauding their victims in the guise of being herbalists in the course of the raid, adding that they were promptly arrested and handed over to the Directorate of State Services for further investigation.
She described the operation as successful, saying it had brought a stronger synergy among the security agencies which carried out the exercise.
One of the suspects, Kamoru Olagoke, confessed to Crime Reports that he was into the sale of cocaine but had already stopped and adopted a clean way of life. Olagoke said: “I used to sell cocaine at Beere and my clients cut across all strata of the society. However, I have stopped selling the drug, I am now an Islamic teacher. I was arrested at home on Thursday August 29.”
A female suspect, Eniola Aliyu, said her husband was into Indian hemp sale but said they were already separated as the man rejected the child she had for him. “I am from Osun State. I was arrested because my husband, Sina, sells marijuana at Iwo Road. I never knew he was into the illicit trade. We are divorced because he denied the paternity of my child when she was three months old,” she stated.
Another suspect, Kazeem Mohammed who said he was living at Oje area told Crime Reports that he was under a bridge smoking cigarette when he was arrested. “I was put inside a vehicle where I saw a man whom I knew as a trader in marijuana, but I don’t smoke marijuana. I only take cigarette and ogogoro (local gin),” he stated.
A 13-year-old girl, Jumoke (not real name) who was also among the arrested suspects admitted that packs of a variety of cannabis sativa popularly known as skunk were found in her mother’s shop where she was arrested, but denied knowing how they got there. Jumoke said her mother was a trader who sells drinks and has a shop assistant.
Lukman Salami, a driver also admitted to have engaged in the illicit business of Indian hemp sale but pointed out that he stopped selling or smoking when he became very ill and was advised at the University College Hospital (UCH) to stop it.
Mrs Faboyede however said the arrested suspects would be duly screened while those found to have violated the law would be prosecuted accordingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment