NDLEA nabs 7 in Abia

Abia State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has paraded seven persons arrested in March for being in possession of suspected psycho-tropical substances.

According to the state commander of the agency, Mr. Bamidele Akingbade, the suspects were caught at various locations in the state with substances weighing 14.23 kilograms.

The suspects, Uzochukwu Nnanna,35, Kingsley Ugwubueze,31, Agbaeze Kalu,40, Saidu Iliyasu,29, Solution Kingsley,22, Ikechukwu Nwankpa, 31, and Ugochukwu Nwachukwu, 22, were paraded on Tuesday.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the substances found on the suspects as revealed by NDLEA are: Cocaine, Heroin and Indian hemp as at when they were arrested.

Akingbade stated further that the suspects would be prosecuted at the Federal High Court in Umuahia, the capital of Abia, later this month after the agency would have concluded its investigations.

He said that one of the suspects, Saidu Iliyasu, a security guard with Maranatha Private Hostel in Abia State University, Uturu, was arrested during a raid of the town following the killing of two students by some cultists.

The commander said the guard was arrested for being in possession of a substance suspected to be Indian hemp worth over N3, 000.

Another suspect, Uzochukwu Nnanna told NAN that the policemen caught him with Indian hemp and later handed him over to the NDLEA.

He pleaded for mercy, saying that he was pushed to the trade by hardship.

Another suspect, Solution Kingsley, said he was caught with cocaine “white” following the death of his father.

Kingsley said that after he had completed his secondary school education and loss of his father, he needed help to further his education.

He noted that it was in the process that he met a man called Nwa-Charlie who introduced him into trafficking.

The suspect said that Nwa-Charlie told him that he could raise money to further his education through drug trafficking.

Similarly, Kingsley Ugwubueze from Imo State said he was caught for being in possession of Indian hemp last month.

However, Agbaeze Kalu, a wheel-barrow pusher, said he went to buy Indian hemp for personal consumption when he was caught by the vigilante in Aba and handed over to the NDLEA.

He said that smoking weed had always given him extra power to continue working whenever he became weak after doing heavy jobs.

“I now know that it is dangerous to my health and when I leave here I will not return to it”, he said.

Ugochukwu Nwachukwu, also from Imo State, said his father died last December and since then he had no helper.

He said this had led him into selling Indian hemp until he was caught.

They pleaded for pardon, promising that if they should be released, they would not return to hard-drug trade and consumption.