A police inspector, Abali Zagi, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Lokoja, Kogi State with the Nigeria Police Force headquarters’ welfare bus loaded with 818.2kg of Cannabis Sativa.
The NDLEA Commander, Muhammad Idris Bello, while parading the suspects, indicated that the police officer and two other accomplices were arrested along Lokoja-Okene road on their way from Okpeila.
He said his patrol team had earlier allowed him a free pass but perceived the smell of weeds and decided to pursue the bus and arrested them. After a thorough search, the exhibits were found.
According to him, another suspect, who is a dismissed military officer, Umar Shehu, was arrested with 44kg of the banned substance. Bello said he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army because of mutiny in Maiduguri when they refused to fight Boko Haram. Also paraded was one Aminat Iredia, arrested alongside her four-year-old child, with 32.4kg.
The commander indicated that drug peddlers were fond of using the ploy of carrying little children to draw sympathy so that by the time they were arrested, they could be left off the hook. “We have sent for their people to come and take away the boy because he is innocent. He has nothing to do with NDLEA.”
