By Daniel Edu
Imo State, Nigeria – A recent operation by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Imo State has resulted in the rescue of five pregnant teenagers, suspected to be victims of child trafficking employed in a baby factory. These young girls were discovered during a patrol along the Aba-Owerri Expressway.
The operation unfolded as the teenagers were being relocated from their hideout in the Naze area of Owerri to the Ikenegbu area of the state capital. Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson for the NDLEA, disclosed this in an official statement issued on Sunday.
According to the agency’s statement, the teenagers, identified as Chioma Emmanuel (15), Uma Faith (15), Divine Adimonye (17), Opara Gift (15), and Amarachi Mbata (16), claimed they had no knowledge of the men who impregnated them.
The NDLEA team successfully rescued the pregnant teenagers on September 13, 2023. In response to the situation, the Imo State Command of the NDLEA has been instructed to transfer custody of the girls to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation, as announced by Babafemi.
In a separate development, the NDLEA has once again thwarted attempts by transnational drug trafficking organizations to export methamphetamine and skunk through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, and courier companies in the region.
At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives on September 12 intercepted Ugwu Tochukwu, who was attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Oman. Upon a thorough search of his luggage, they discovered 7.50 kilograms of skunk cleverly concealed within crayfish mixed with dry bitter leaf.
Additionally, NDLEA officers from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations, working with courier companies, intercepted 2.9 kilograms of skunk and 14 grams of methamphetamine destined for Dubai. These illicit drugs were concealed in bags of Semovita and the soles of ladies’ high heel shoes, respectively.
Babafemi reported further arrests, stating, “While two suspects, Moses Akowe (32) and Sunday Gabriel (31), were arrested with 227.1 kilograms of cannabis on Tuesday, September 11, in Ankpa LGA, Kogi State, a female suspect, Bilikisu Salako (35), was nabbed with 108 kilograms of the same substance on Saturday, September 16, in Ifo area of Ogun State.”
The agency also traced 55 kilograms of cannabis blocks and 600 bottles of codeine-based syrup seized from Salisu Murtala and Shafi’u Dahiru on Tuesday, September 11, along Abuja road to two additional suspects, Muntari Nasiru and Yusuf Ali, who were apprehended in follow-up operations in Kano.
In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a 27-year-old individual named Kingsley Chimaobi was arrested with 6,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup along the Lokogoma-Abuja road on Tuesday, September 11.
Moreover, a drug dealer identified as Segun Odeyemi has been sentenced to five years in prison by a Federal High Court in Lagos. He was convicted of trafficking and dealing in 3,842 kilograms of skunk. Odeyemi was apprehended on Saturday, July 1, while transporting 89 jumbo bags of the illicit substance in his truck in the Eleganza area of Ajah, Lekki. The case was presided over by Justice Akintayo Aluko and recorded as Suit Number FHC/L/388C/2023.
