The war on drugs just got older. NDLEA operatives arrested two men aged 83 and 78 this week in a sweeping crackdown that netted suspects across 10 states, the agency said Sunday.
The busts expose a troubling shift: Nigeria’s drug trade is pulling in everyone from 24-year-old couriers to grandfathers.
– The octogenarians –
Pa John Ofiel, 83, was picked up Tuesday in Abia State after officers raided his base in Samek, Powerline. They found 700 grammes of skunk in retail sachets. A former shoemaker, Ofiel told investigators he switched to drug distribution.
In Ekiti, 78-year-old Ogunjobi Samuel was arrested Thursday at his Ilupeju-Ekiti home with 350 grammes of skunk.
-Women, wanted dealer, and a Camry-
In Oyo, Rebecca King, 24, was intercepted on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway with 1.925kg of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis. Olaniyan Opeyemi, 31, was arrested later in Ibadan trying to collect it.
NDLEA also caught Taofik Adeyemi, 49, a long-wanted dealer who’d dodged arrest for months. He and Mustapha Oyerinde, 28, were nabbed Saturday in Ibadan with 3.085kg of skunk and a Toyota Camry.
Two of Adeyemi’s alleged accomplices were arrested in December 2025 and are now in court.
-Bigger hauls, wider net-
– Osun: 65-year-old driver Oladayo Awoyemi caught with 7kg of skunk and 15g of meth on the Ibadan-Ilesha Expressway. Alleged owner Ifedayo Babalola arrested in Ilesha.
– Borno: Yahaya Shehu, 27, held with 76,440 Tramadol pills. Another 14,000 capsules seized in a related bust.
– Kaduna: 290kg of compressed cannabis recovered on the Abuja-Jos highway.
– Jigawa: Nearly 50,000 Tramadol capsules seized in Hadejia.
– Lagos: 740kg of skunk recovered in a Mushin market raid.
– Edo: Godstime Godspower arrested with Loud, Colorado, Tramadol, Swinol, and meth.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said the agency is pushing its War Against Drug Abuse campaign in schools, churches, and communities across Niger, Kano, Anambra, Lagos, and Edo.
Chairman of NDLEA Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, Retd, praised officers but stressed balance: “aggressive drug supply reduction” plus “sustained public education to curb demand.”
The arrests, especially of men in their 70s and 80s, point to a widening demography in Nigeria’s drug trade, Babafemi said. As enforcement bites, more people across age groups are getting pulled in.
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