Cocaine now Abuja’s ‘hottest’ drug
Once a well-kept secret, the sale of cocaine in Abuja seems is getting mainstream. Drug dealers employ some unique – even ridiculous – means of peddling their wares. There are clear indications that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is increasingly becoming a den for illicit drugs trade. At Garki, an area that serves as […]
Once a well-kept secret, the sale of cocaine in Abuja seems is getting mainstream. Drug dealers employ some unique – even ridiculous – means of peddling their wares.
There are clear indications that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is increasingly becoming a den for illicit drugs trade. At Garki, an area that serves as the major sale point in the FCT, dealers and buyers converge at a garden. Students, children of highly-placed Nigerians and others of both genders all converge to buy and use an assortment of hard drugs. Some of the callers at the infamous garden come in flashy cars, in which they remain while being supplied. A young man, who frequents the place, simply identified as Kingsley, said while he’s not a drug dealer, “I just know some of the boys and girls that drive here, that is why I go to say hello to them. But whenever I see Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officials coming to raid, I run.”
Kingsley told Weekly Trust that the upper-class clients of the drug dealers come in a variety of super-posh cars. “Some of them have government plate numbers and even National Assembly numbers.” He added that some of them are professionals while others are students, some of whose parents have gotten arrested and taken to rehabilitation centers. “I know three of them that are children of very important government-types in Abuja,” he said. NDLEA sources hinted that about 34 addicts were picked up and are currently being rehabilitated.
At Wuse Zone 4, where NDLEA operatives carried out a raid recently, a foreign exchange dealer said though suspected drug dealers were arrested during the raid, the major kingpin escaped. The agent, Mu’azu (not real name), said he gleaned that wraps of cocaine sell there at N5,000 per wrap. “But they have the adulterated variety that is just N2,000 a wrap,” he told Weekly Trust.
Other areas where the drug-dealing is booming includes various nightclubs, dark areas around Area 1 Bridge and even some restaurants whose owners are oblivious of the illicit trade going on within their premises. Interestingly, even roadside traders and hawkers are in on the game and some of them have been found to possess and sell a variety of narcotics. The FCT Commander of NDLEA, Mrs. Omolade Faboyede-Omole said between January and July this year, the agency has carried out over 140 drugs-related arrests within the FCT.
The FCT Command recovered 1,966.741 kilograms of cannabis sativa, otherwise known as Indian hemp, 28.7 kilograms of cocaine and 123.5 kilograms of psychotropic substances. “The shocking aspect is that these drugs are being sold (in the FCT) by biscuit hawkers, sometimes even concealing them in sacks,” Faboyede-Omole said.
Upon the interception of a wheelbarrow-using sweet-seller, it was discovered that he had concealed his illicit wares under the biscuits. One Abubakar Shehu, 20, from Kebbi State, was also nabbed with over 50 bottles of cough syrup containing Codeine, a favourite among drug abusers. He was also found with several sachets of a strong prescription anti-depressant. Faboyede-Omole said it was worrisome the rate at which cough syrup is abused, mostly by youths. “Most of the inmates admitted at our mini-rehabilitation center are victims of such drugs. Of course, there are other cases like that of crack, cocaine and others,” she said, adding that those arrested so far will soon be charged to court. On the number of abusers arrested, she said: “They’re many.” Several raids were carried out recently in Abuja in areas like Garki and Wuse Zone 4 where assorted illicit drugs are widely available. Drugs were recovered in commercial quantity.
Though Weekly Trust couldn’t gain access to the suspects being questioned by NDLEA operatives, sources close to the suspects revealed many of the arrested persons were drug dealers hawking their wares in wheelbarrows alongside confectioneries like biscuits, chewing gum and even cigarettes. Other dealers peddled their drugs in coolers, posing like ‘pure water’ sellers by roadsides.
One Alhaji Karama, who was at the NDLEA’s office to bail one of the suspects, said officials insisted on charging the matter to court. “Early this year, some youths staying with the young man I have come to bail told me that he’s selling Indian hemp and other prohibited drugs. I called him and advised him to stop. I thought he did, until he was arrested.”
Karama said: “I understand some of them carry the drugs in bags, in congested areas, supplying their customers at traffic jams, hotels, gardens and shopping centres. My ward told me that when customers sight dealers in traffic when they need a fix, they would ‘flash’ their phones or call them to deliver.”
Earlier, Mu’azu had told Weekly Trust that his colleagues would be in the company of those accused of dealing cocaine and they would see the currency dealers doing legitimate business. “But we would never see them selling their own wares. The only thing I have noticed is that they may receive a phone call, and then they would disappear. You won’t see them carrying the drugs or see them exchange anything with anyone throughout the day. Maybe they have places they go to meet their customers.”