An 84-year-old man, Godfrey Orji, and a 75-year-old man, Godwin Obulunbiya Obiora, are in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) after being arrested for allegedly dealing in illicit drugs, which they reportedly sold to teenage secondary school students in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
Obiora was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Friday, June 19, 2026, following credible intelligence that he was allegedly selling illicit drugs to students and other residents from his patent medicine store located at 4 Club Road, Umuahia. During a search of the premises, operatives recovered 4.64 kilograms of opioids, including tramadol and diazepam.
In a separate incident, Orji, a pensioner, was arrested by security guards at Saint Silas Secondary School in Old Umuahia for allegedly supplying illicit drugs to two teenage students whose identities have been withheld. The security personnel handed him and the students over to the police, who subsequently transferred the case to the NDLEA on Thursday, June 18.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said one of the teenagers, a 15-year-old SS2 student, told investigators that the 84-year-old suspect had been supplying him with the drugs, which he allegedly consumed and also sold to fellow students.
Babafemi added that while the two elderly suspects will be charged to court, the students have been enrolled in counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
