ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 101-year-old woman for alleged cannabis dealing and intercepted cocaine concealed in edible cassava flour, known locally as fufu, in separate drug operations across the country.
The agency said it also seized illicit drugs with a combined street value of more than ₦4.4 billion (approximately $3.1 million) in operations carried out in several states between August 15 and August 22, 2026. Okay News reports that the seizures included cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine and tramadol.
The centenarian, identified as Esther Ogunmabo, was arrested on August 15 in Ilisan, Ogun State, with 90 grammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis. The NDLEA said she admitted selling the drug in small quantities.
Ogunmabo reportedly told investigators that she began selling cannabis after a fire destroyed her provisions shop and said one of her daughters in Lagos supplied her with the drug every four days. The daughter was subsequently arrested, according to the agency.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) directed that Ogunmabo be granted bail and receive counselling because of her age.
In Akwa Ibom State, NDLEA officers on August 21 intercepted a wooden boat carrying illicit drugs towards fishing settlements in Cameroon and arrested three suspects. The agency said 42.622 kilogrammes of narcotics were recovered, including cannabis and 20 grammes of cocaine hidden inside a large quantity of edible cassava flour.
The agency also reported its first seizure of illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through Nigeria’s maritime corridor, after officers intercepted two containers at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos State.
The Apapa container, which was declared to contain dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries, contained 1,090.5 kilogrammes of cannabis indica, commonly known as Loud, according to the NDLEA. A second container at Lekki yielded another 400 kilogrammes. The agency valued the combined consignments at more than ₦4.4 billion (approximately $3.1 million).
In the Federal Capital Territory, NDLEA officers intercepted three waybill packages containing 24,410 tramadol capsules inside a Hummer bus travelling from Enugu to Zuba on August 22. A follow-up operation in Niger State resulted in the arrest of the alleged owner, 28-year-old Sunday Eze, in Kontagora.
In Ondo State, the agency said officers destroyed 10,000 kilogrammes of skunk cultivated across four hectares of farmland in Ijare forest, Ifedore Local Government Area. Officers separately recovered 210 kilogrammes of skunk and a Toyota Camry at Ita-Ogbolu.
Other operations resulted in the seizure of 1.325 kilogrammes of methamphetamine and cannabis in Kwara State, 4.68 kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs from a 65-year-old woman in Oyo State, and 73.3 kilogrammes of skunk in Kano State.
The NDLEA also reported recovering 48 kilogrammes of skunk from three members of the same family near Seme in Lagos State, as well as 14.4 kilogrammes of Loud, 2.3 kilogrammes of Colorado cannabis, tramadol and Rohypnol in Abia State.
The agency said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) awareness campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across several states.
Marwa commended NDLEA personnel involved in the operations and urged them to maintain what the agency described as a balanced approach combining enforcement, prevention and public education.
