Varsity bus driver caught with Indian Hemp in Ogun

THE long arm of the law on Tuesday caught up with a driver of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Abolade Bolaji, for allegedly conveying substance suspected to be Indian hemp into the country.

The suspect, according to the Comptroller of Customs Service (NCS), Ogun Command, Sank Madugu, was arrested by his men at Imeko, a border town between Nigeria and Republic of Benin, on Monday.

Madugu while parading the suspect at its headquarters in Abeokuta, said that the institution’s coaster bus marked FUNAAB 50 B-100 FG was intercepted following a tip off.

A total of 211 parcels of the substance made into Bible size was found in the vehicles.

The Customs boss said Bolaji concealed the illegal drugs under a bag of rice in the vehicle while nemesis caught up with him.

He was said to have been stopped for search by Customs men at a checkpoint in the town.

Abolaji who was paraded before newsmen with the exhibits was handed over to the Commander of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the State, Bala Fagge.

Fagge commended Customs for the feat declaring that the drug recovered weighted 295.4kg while promising that the Command would investigate the matter and bring the sponsors of the suspect to book.

Reacting to the development, the institution management had vowed not to interfere in the investigation against its staff as a responsible and law abiding organisation.

In a statement issued by the Head of Directorate of Public Relations, Mrs Emi Alawode, described the incident as unfortunate.

The statement reads in part,” As a responsible and law-abiding organisation, the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, is committed to upholding all statutory enactments guiding its establishment, subsisting legislation in Ogun State and the nation in general. This uncompromising and non-negotiable stance had always and severally been hammered to bonafide members of staff and students of the University.

‎”However, the attention of the University has been drawn to an unfortunate incidence that was said to have occurred on Saturday, August 12, 2017, in which one of its drivers, using the University official vehicle in his possession, was said to have been apprehended along Olorunda, Ogun State by law enforcement agents, for allegedly being in possession of substances suspected to have been smuggled,” Alawode pointed out.

“Already, the University has put the necessary machinery in place, to carry out proper investigations, to ascertain what actually transpired on the said date on one hand, while law enforcement agents, on the other hand, would be allowed and supported to perform their statutory duties in the overall interest of all citizens’, the statement hemp.”