Oyo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said that it has arrested 72 suspects for various drug offences in the third quarter of 2022.
Disclosing this in a statement on Friday, the Public Relations Officer(PRO) of the agency in Oyo, Mutiat Okuwobi, a Chief Superintendent of Narcotics, said that the command, under the leadership of Commander Abdullah Saeed, recorded a seizure of 502.076kg of cannabis sativa and other narcotic and psychotropic substances during the period under review.
The suspects comprise 52 males and 20 females within the age range of 17 and 60 years.
The drugs they were arrested with included cannabis sativa, cocaine, tramadol, diazepam, rohypnol, colorado, codeine, amphetamine, skoochies and cake mixed with cannabis.
Non-drug exhibits also recovered from the suspects included a locally fabricated pistol with a cartridge and four rounds of 9mm live ammunition.
“Within the same period, cannabis sativa on 3.851 acres of farmland located at Oluwo village, Ido Local Government Area was destroyed in the month of September 2022.
“Equally, within the same period 17 suspects were charged to court while 13 were convicted for various drug offences with jail terms ranging from six months to four years imprisonment,” the PRO stated.
Okuwobi said further that the command gave brief intervention in terms of counselling to 38 people using drugs, made up of 30 males and eight females.
She added: “We presently have six clients undergoing residential rehabilitation. They will be reintegrated into society after successful completion of their rehabilitation.”
The PRO also made it known that the command’s sensitisation programmes were extended to over 206 schools and some private organisations.
She gave the command’s urge to schools and other organisations to give NDLEA officers some platform through which enlightenment of their students and workers within the state could be done.
She spoke on some weekly radio and television programmes during the period, adding that the state Commander, Saeed, advised the public to complement the efforts of the anti-drug agency, “as we cannot afford to sit by and pretend that all is well when our youths are being hooked to drugs and their future being destroyed.”
“It is our collective responsibility to make our land drug-free. Join us in making Oyo drug-free,” she said.
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