11 ladies, 269 others nabbed over drugs

Bamidele who reviewed the activities of the NDLEA in the state, said a total of 849.72kg of cannabis (Indian hemp) and 27.371kg of psychotropic substances were also seized from the suspects in 2009. He said among the suspects, 37 have been convicted but assured that with the establishment of a Federal High court in Damaturu […]

Bamidele who reviewed the activities of the NDLEA in the state, said a total of 849.72kg of cannabis (Indian hemp) and 27.371kg of psychotropic substances were also seized from the suspects in 2009.

He said among the suspects, 37 have been convicted but assured that with the establishment of a Federal High court in Damaturu last year and the presence of a resident lawyer, more cases will be heard this year because the agency will no longer take its suspects to Maiduguri.

He lamented that 35 suspects remanded at the Maiduguri prison were released by the Boko Haram insurgents last year but was quick to add that five of them had been re-arrested while efforts were being made to arrest the rest.

Bamidele said his men had raided black spots including the Sunday market and Kamfala market, all in Damaturu as well as locked up two political party secretariats where some of the drug users always found  “safe haven to perpetrate crime”, he said.

“Between October and December 2009, we seized a total of 335kg of illicit drugs and arrested one Sunday Oke, a notorious drug baron who hitherto took hard drugs to Yobe, Borno, Gombe and Adamawa. It was really a great success for us”, the commander said.

He called on Yobe State government to fulfil its promise to renovate the rehabilitation centre in the state and provide the agency with operational vehicles. “Our major problem is that we have only one vehicle which takes care of all the state”, he said. “If proliferation of illicit drugs will be reduced, a lot of atrocities would be perpetrated”, he added.