NDLEA arrests 198 drug dealers in 10 months

NDLEA boss, Giade

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Akwa Ibom State, has arrested 198 persons suspected to be hard drug dealers.
The suspects, who were picked up at different times between January and October are made up of 167 males and 29 females.
The state’s commander of the NDLEA, Mrs. Ruth Obi, said on Tuesday in Uyo that the number of arrests within 10 months was worrisome.
She said a suspect, Martins Okon, who had been on the agency’s wanted list for a while, escaped through the window when the operatives stormed his residence.
Obi said, “We went there on several occasions to confirm who was selling hard drugs between him and his brother. If we did not make pre-purchases before arresting him, he will deny selling drugs even if we find them in his room.
“We had to go ahead and make pre-purchases from him to confirm who the dealer was; so our pre-purchases were in grammes, which shows that he was not a small dealer. If he was a small dealer he would have been selling the drugs in bits and not in grammes.”
Okon, who later appeared at the NDLEA office, said he was away when the operatives visited his house.
He said, “On a Wednesday I returned home and saw that my home had been turned upside down. I asked people around what had happened and they told me that NDLEA officials came.
“I called my family and told them that I wanted to go to the agency’s office; they advised me to go with a lawyer. My family directed me to the lawyer and he came here with me. I met and talked with some other persons in the office, but before I know it, I was put in the cell.
“When I asked them to tell me why I was arrested, they said I sell drugs and I told them ‘no’ that I have my handi work and that it was not possible for me to go into drugs.
“The exhibits they showed me were two wraps of white stuffs and two wraps of yellow stuff. They said they bought them from me in June. I disclaimed them immediately.
“What they took from my house which I accepted was the three bullet shells, which I picked from the site where my dad and his brother were assassinated on June 20, 2009. I keep them as something for remembrance and they saw them in a box.”
The Punch