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Aides arrested, one jailed
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Allegations not true – Lawmaker
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Issue must be properly investigated – CSOs
By Abbas Jimoh, Saawua Terzungwe & Mumini Abdulkareem (Ilorin)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said yesterday that it raided the Ilorin home of Senator Oyelola Yisa Ashiru (APC Kwara South), where it recovered a consignment of drugs.
The Chairman of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), who spoke at a media briefing yesterday in Abuja, said the recent attack on the agency by Senator Ashiru was borne out of vendetta, rather than on any altruistic motive or national interest.
Marwa, who was represented by Mr. Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy of the agency, also said three of Ashiru’s aides had been arrested and prosecuted, and that one of them was sent to jail in June this year.
Babafemi berated the senator for his comment that “the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is corrupt and compromised….”
Daily Trust recalls that at the Senate plenary last week, Ashiru had said NDLEA is the most corrupt and compromised government agency in Nigeria.
He said this while contributing to the debate on a ‘Bill for an Act to establish National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation’, claiming that the NDLEA had failed in its mandate, thereby giving credence to the proposed creation of another drug related agency.
He had said: “The failure of NDLEA has resulted in the high rate of drug trafficking going on in the country. The NDLEA is corrupt and compromised hence, I support the creation of a National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation.”
The NDLEA, however, said the senator’s comments were uncomplimentary, unfounded and defamatory.
While acknowledging the work of the Senate towards the upliftment of Nigeria and Nigerians, especially senators’ support for the ongoing efforts towards the amendment of the NDLEA Act, the agency, however, said it was duty-bound to respond to what it termed the unprovoked attack against it by Senator Ashiru during his contribution to the debate on a new bill for an Act to establish the National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
Babafemi said the NDLEA waited for a whole week with the hope that the lawmaker would clarify his position on such a weighty allegations against it, and that failing to do so left it with no option than to set the records straight for the benefit of other members of the Senate, its local and international partners as well as the public.
“The personal house of the senator (Ashiru) in GRA Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, had been raided in recent past, where drugs and illicit substances were recovered while two of his aides: Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya were arrested. Based on credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed that the senator’s house was being used as a drug joint for drug dealers and users, the house was raided by our operatives at 1:30pm on February 4, 2024, during which the two aides were arrested, while a third suspect escaped arrest.
“In an earlier encounter with the senator, the agency also received intelligence that some of his boys popularly known as ‘Omo Senator’ operating from his home town, Offa, were equally dealing in illicit drugs. A raid was subsequently carried out on their joint in Offa, where one of them, Oluwatosin Odepidan was arrested and illicit drugs such as methamphetamine and cannabis were recovered from him on June 11, 2023.
“The bid to get the agency to drop the case against Odepidan, including a visit to the Kwara State Command headquarters of the agency in Ilorin by the Personal Assistant to the senator, one Omoluabi, was rebuffed as Odepidan was promptly charged to court and prosecuted.
“Though the culprit jumped court bail in 2023, he was rearrested in 2024, after the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was eventually convicted and sentenced in June 2024.
“So, going by this backstory, it is deductible that these encounters that the agency has had with the senator must have been responsible for his outburst, and unfortunately, false allegation, the type that nobody within and outside of government has ever levelled against NDLEA,” he said.
The agency said despite the impression that Senator Ashiru was trying to create about its image, the NDLEA has continued to receive accolades from local and international bodies for its successes in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.
He said: “Incidentally, the next day after Senator Ashiru made the statement, the NDLEA in Lagos commissioned a new marine command headquarters building donated by the government of the United Kingdom. A similar facility at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport was donated last year by the same British government.
“We have had other facilities donated by the United States INL and executed by UNODC in the past 12 months. We have been receiving various supports from the governments of France, Germany and the US, among others.
“Suffice it to say that in the past three years, NDLEA has emerged as a regional leader among national drug law enforcement agencies. So, come to think about it, an agency so badmouthed by Senator Ashiru couldn’t have been attracting such international goodwill and commendation for being the ‘most corrupt government agency’ in Nigeria.
“Against the background of our encounter with people linked to him, we are wont to believe that Senator Ashiru’s invectives against NDLEA were borne out of vendetta and not any opinion made in the public interest.
“As an agency, we have been professional in our activities and interactions with citizens as we carry out arrests daily. In the past three years, we have made over 52, 000 arrests and got more than 9, 000 convictions, including three life sentences this year. And, as part of our mandate, we have engaged in over 7,000 awareness and sensitisation activities in schools, workplaces, worship centres and communities; treatment and rehabilitation of more than 33,000 drug users, including the last two persons arrested in the senator’s house; supported by governments, organisations and other stakeholders in the country and around the world”, he said.
Their allegations not true – Ashiru
Reacting, Senator Oyelola Ashiru, through his legislative aide, Olaitan Adeyanju, denied the allegations in a press statement.
He said: “We find it preposterous and mere fishing for justification that NDLEA had to wait for the senator’s observation on the floor of the Senate before making its spurious allegations.
“As a matter of fact, Senator Ashiru never employed any aide with names Ibrahim Mohammed and Mohammed Yahaya as bandied by NDLEA.
“The agency claimed that its operatives visited the senator’s Ilorin house. The entire house was searched, and nothing incriminating was found. If any drugs were found on certain persons mentioned by the NDLEA, it is rational to ask in which court of law were the culprits charged.
“It is also important to state that Senator Ashiru has not sent any aide to the NDLEA to influence the dropping of drug allegations against anyone known as Tosin Odepidian. Indeed, all the names mentioned by the agency are strange, and none works directly or indirectly with Senator Ashiru”, the statement said.
The aide added: “The NDLEA has the duty to take anyone suspected of drug dealing to court, rather than name- calling and engaging in media trial.
“This clarification aims to set the record straight and address the misleading information circulated by the NDLEA.
“It is an open secret that many criminals, cultists, armed robbers and drug addicts find their way back into business after gratifying law enforcement officers. The NDLEA ought to search its house and fish out bad eggs, rather than seek cheap publicity!
‘‘Senator Ashiru remains committed to serving the people of Kwara-south and upholding the truth at all times in the search for professionalism among our law enforcement agencies”, it said.
‘How cankerworm was let open’
The NDLEA statement is coming on the heels of Senator Kawu Sumaila’s statement during a plenary session of the Senate.
The senator representing Kano-South had indicted politicians for allegedly fuelling the illicit drugs crisis in the country.
Speaking on the bill sponsored by Senator Rufa’i Hanga (NNPP Kano Central), Senator Sumaila said no institute could help the situation until politicians changed their way of doing things.
He challenged politicians, including his colleagues at the Senate to swear with the Qur’an or Holy Bible, that they were not culpable in drug trafficking and abuse.
Sumaila, who is the chairman, senate committee on sports, said some of the houses of lawmakers and constituency offices were used to stockpile drugs by their workers and that politicians and appointees should be made to go through compulsory drug tests before elections and appointments.
CSOs speaks
Speaking on the issue, the ActionAid Nigeria Country Director, Mr Andrew Mamedu, told Daily Trust that it was important for an independent investigation or enquiry to be launched to unravel the truth of the matter.
“It is noticeable that the war on illicit drugs has seen some improvement, especially that the high and mighty are being arrested and prosecuted. There should be a thorough and independent investigation of this development.
“If this had happened to the poor, such could have been in jail by now. This case is critical and as it also concerns some youths, it should not be dismissed or swept under the carpet,” he said.
On his part, Salihu Ismail, who is the Coordinator of a group known as ‘Free Nigeria from Drugs’, said the discovery by the NDLEA should be commended.
“If a certain senator (referring to Kawu Sumaila) will come out in the hallowed chamber to say the war against drugs should start the high and mighty, and then a few days after, the NDLEA to come out and announce their discovery, it means we are making progress,” he said.
“We are happy this is happening in the public arena, it is commendable and the debate should be sustained until the truth is out,” he said.
But in an interview with the Daily Trust yesterday, Senator Hanga said he will not be derailed from his mission, and that he will not comment on the fight between the NDLEA and the senator, as well as what Kawu Sumaila said.
“The bill is aimed at establishing a national institute for drug abuse awareness and rehabilitation. We are faced with a serious problem in the country,” he said.
“If you go to Kano, you will see house wives indulging in drug abuse. The claim by some lawmakers who raised concerns that the proposed legislation might conflict with the NDLEA act is not correct. I was chairman of the committee on drugs during the 5th Senate. I know their mandate,” he said.
