Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested 84-year-old Godfrey Orji and 75-year-old Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora for allegedly dealing in illicit substances, which they sold to teenage seco1ndary school students in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.

Obiora was arrested on Friday, June 19, 2026, following credible intelligence that he was selling illicit substances to students and other residents from his patent medicine store at 4 Club Road, Umuahia. A search of the premises led to the recovery of 4.64 kilogrammes of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.

Orji, a pensioner, was arrested by security guards at Saint Silas Secondary School, Old Umuahia, for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to two teenage students (names withheld). The guards subsequently handed them over to the police, who transferred the case to the NDLEA on Thursday, June 18.

In his statement, one of the teenagers, a 15-year-old SS2 student, claimed that the 84-year-old supplied him with drugs, which he consumed and also sold to fellow students.

While the two suspects are expected to be arraigned in court, the students have been placed on counselling and rehabilitation programmes.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives intercepted a consignment of ADB Chminaca, a synthetic cannabinoid classified as a dangerous new psychoactive substance (NPS), at a courier firm in Lagos.

The shipment, which arrived from China with a gross weight of 9.5 kilogrammes, was concealed in a carton. This was followed by another seizure on Tuesday, June 16, at a different logistics company in Lagos, where 300 grammes of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, was found hidden in ladies’ handbags.

In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA officers on Friday, June 19, raided the residence of a wanted drug dealer, Lukman Badmus, also known as Lukman Ogombo, in the Ogombo area of Ajah, where nine bottles of codeine syrup and 30 grammes of skunk were recovered.

A follow-up operation at the shop of Lukman’s wife in the Patey area of Lagos Island led to the recovery of an additional two bottles of codeine syrup and drug paraphernalia. Operatives also recovered 42 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 22.5kg from a minibus parked in front of the shop.

An attempt by the wife, Aisha Saraki, to flush some of the drug exhibits down the toilet during the raid was thwarted by operatives.

In Kogi State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja highway on Friday, June 19, intercepted a suspect, Tochukwu Onah, 33, travelling from Lagos to Abuja with 1.030kg of methamphetamine concealed in custard containers.

Similarly, a couple, James Tony Chukwudi, 48, and James Kehinde, 35, who were wanted in connection with the seizure of 117 kilogrammes of skunk in Ekiti State on March 26, 2026, were arrested on Tuesday, June 16, at Oniyo Street, Efon-Alaaye, after months on the run.

In Oyo State, 75-year-old Tudun Olubiyi and two others, Nasiru Buhari, 22, and Buba Musa, 47, were arrested when NDLEA operatives raided their residence in the Dangote area of Elekara, Oyo Town, on Saturday, June 20. During the operation, 118 jumbo bags containing 1,416kg of skunk concealed beneath sawdust were recovered.

A suspect, Patrick Imoukhede, 45, was arrested on Wednesday, June 17, when NDLEA officers raided Khagba Forest in Ikao, Owan East Local Government Area, where they destroyed 1,744.075kg of skunk and recovered 169kg of processed cannabis.

Another raid at Ebora Camp, Ilushi, in Esan South Local Government Area led to the destruction of 2,424.945kg of cannabis. In a separate operation in the area, Augustine Anyamone, 45, was arrested with 395kg of skunk.

Also, the NDLEA destroyed 25,807.192kg of illicit drugs in Imo State.

The destroyed substances comprised 2,319 litres of codeine-based cough syrup and 24,945.302kg of Cannabis sativa. Other items destroyed included 29.65kg of methamphetamine, 3.169kg of cocaine, 1.378kg of heroin and 827.702kg of other psychotropic substances.

Chairman of the NDLEA, Buba Marwa, represented by the agency’s Director of Operations and General Investigation, Ahmed Ningi, described the exercise as a demonstration of accountability to the Nigerian public and an assurance that drugs seized by the agency never find their way back into circulation.

He said the agency would continue to pursue traffickers wherever they operate, dismantle cartels profiting from addiction and disrupt every link in the illicit drug supply chain.

Speaking at the event, the Imo State Commander of the NDLEA, Chinonye Nnyigide, said the drugs were recovered through the efforts of dedicated officers and personnel of the command.

“These substances have passed through the necessary legal and administrative processes in accordance with established procedures and applicable laws,” he said.

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, represented by his deputy, Chinyere Ekomaru, said the public destruction of illicit drugs demonstrated the government’s commitment to protecting lives and safeguarding society from the dangers of drug abuse and trafficking.