A 36-year-old woman identified as Chioma Afam, who hides behind numerous names and wears a hijab to avoid security scrutiny, has been apprehended by NDLEA agents in Benue state along with her partner, Peace Chidinma Caleb, 22, for attempting to smuggle 296,000 Diazepam and Exol-5 tablets from Onitsha, Anambra state to Gombe state.
A statement issued on Wednesday by the Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi said Chioma, who goes by the aliases Amina, Uzoamaka, and Ifunaya to conceal her criminal activities, was apprehended on Saturday 17th July, 2021, alongside the 22-year-old Peace Chidinma Caleb, who also wears a hijab to conceal her nefarious activities, during routine checks and profiling of inbound vehicles into Makurdi, the Benue state capital.
The agency said the vehicle, which was traveling from Onitsha, Anambra state, was stopped along the Makurdi – Alliade road on its way to Gombe State via Makurdi.
A search of their car turned up 43 kilos of Diazepam and 33 kilograms of Exol-5, both weighing 76 kilograms and containing a total of 296,000 tablets wrapped in four huge ‘Ghana must go’ bags.
Curiously, the two interstate drug traffickers have rebuffed efforts to take pictures with the exhibits without wearing their hijab.
Meanwhile, the Agency’s Ondo state command apprehended one Olu Ameh, a commercial motorcycle rider, with 465 kilograms of cannabis sativa along the Ijagba-Ute road in the state’s Ose local government area on Sunday, July 18, 2021.
The illicit substance was said to have been bought from one Joseph in Ago-Akure, Akure North LGA and being conveyed to the buyer, a certain Egbonwon at Ijagba village in Ose LGA.
Reacting to the two seizures and arrests, Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA commended the commanders, officers and men of the Benue and Ondo state Commands of the Agency for their efforts to ensure that no illicit substance is allowed to pass through their areas of responsibility under whatever guise or cover to destroy the lives of innocent Nigerians in other parts of the country. While wishing them and their colleagues in other Commands across Nigeria a happy sallah celebration, he charged them to remain vigilant at all times.
“For us in NDLEA, a kilogram of illicit drug seized by our gallant and courageous officers across the country is a kilogram less what is available on the streets and in our communities and that is why we’ll continue to encourage all our officers and men to continue to give their best in our pursuit of the mandate President Muhammadu Buhari has given us”, Gen. Marwa stated on Wednesday in Abuja.
