By Emmanuel Onyedika
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother in Ilisan, Ogun State, for allegedly selling cannabis. She was apprehended on August 15, 2026, with 90 grammes of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, which she admitted selling in small quantities.
According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, the centenarian said she turned to the illicit trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire, with her daughter in Lagos arranging supplies every four days. Following her arrest, NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) directed that she be granted bail and subjected to counselling due to her advanced age. Her daughter was also arrested in connection with the trade.
In a separate operation in Akwa Ibom State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a wooden boat allegedly conveying drugs to fishing settlements in Cameroon, arresting three suspects. The seizure included 42.622kg of narcotics, comprising skunk, cannabis, and 20 grammes of cocaine concealed inside cassava fufu.
The agency also recorded its first seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through Nigeria’s maritime corridor. Two containers of cannabis indica (Loud) were intercepted at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos. At Apapa, a container declared to contain dry fish, rice, spare parts, soap, and inverter batteries was found to conceal 1,090.5kg of Loud, while another 400kg was recovered at Lekki. The combined seizure amounted to over 1.49 tonnes.
The NDLEA said the arrests and seizures underscore its intensified crackdown on drug trafficking across Nigeria’s land and maritime corridors.