Living on a destructive trade with many names – Farmers recount the ‘gains’ of Indian hemp cultivation

 One of the farmers who cultivate Indian hemp at the Ikwale area of Delta state, Samson Akhatagbo, says unlike other crops grown in the area, Indian hemp requires no pesticides or fertilizers to grow. He says it takes about 15 weeks for the plant to grow and be ripe for cultivation, adding that while the […]

 One of the farmers who cultivate Indian hemp at the Ikwale area of Delta state, Samson Akhatagbo, says unlike other crops grown in the area, Indian hemp requires no pesticides or fertilizers to grow. He says it takes about 15 weeks for the plant to grow and be ripe for cultivation, adding that while the leaves are processed and used for narcotics, the roots are soaked in other drinks for maximum intoxication.  

As the only illicit drug produced in Nigeria, Indian hemp is about the most commonly accessed and most widely abused drug in the country. While it is mainly produced for industrial purposes in other countries, Akhatagbo says they produce it in Nigeria for local consumption and export by barons.

 “Nigeria is not the largest producer of Indian hemp in the world, but ours is one of the most qualitative the world over. Again, in Nigeria, you find the best quality in Delta, Edo and Ondo states. In addition to producing the best quality, these three states also produce the largest quantity. Indian hemp is just a plant like opium, poppy, and coca plants.

“It has so many names that people call it by, depending on where you go to and how the people decide to call it. Some call it Indian hemp, others also call it marijuana, igbo, cannabis, weeds, grass, wee-wee, pot, ganja, kaya, etc. People smoke the dried leaves, others use it to cook soup, boil it as tea while some people use it to treat different ailments.

“I only cultivate it because it is more expensive than every other crop we cultivate. We sell 50 kilograms of cannabis for N10,000 to N12,000 depending on the season. I have never smoked Indian hemp and I do not allow my children to smoke it. I just don’t like it. I have a very light brain that cannot contain it. People come from everywhere to buy it and I believe some even export it outside the country”, he says.

Akhatagbo also says part of the problem they are having with the production of Indian hemp in the area is constant and persistent harassment by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) who deliberately make frantic efforts to spoil their businesses by arresting them and destroying their farms and the products. He says if not for this harassment by NDLEA operatives, they could have improved production, thereby improving Nigeria’s chances of getting more foreign exchange.

“You see, we have to abandon a lot of virgin land and come to such thick forest and cultivate, yet these people would follow us down to the forest and arrest us. Yes, those who want to buy must come here and buy. Boys will carry the goods for them in the middle of the night out of the forest and load it in their vehicles. Some buyers come with Nigerian Army or Nigeria Police Force trucks; some come with ambulances to avoid arrest. Others even come with tippers and bury the goods inside the sand they are carrying.

“There was a time some people came in a convoy of about seven cars with a pilot car and some policemen and carried goods. But I heard that they were arrested in Auchi, Edo state. All this is as a result of the problem these NDLEA people are giving us. They don’t want this country to make money [through the export of cannabis] as it is making through oil”, he says.

Onome Igbinosa and Isa Yakubu Gujungu are professed Indian hemp dealers who buy the product from different parts of the Niger Delta and the Western states of Ondo and Oyo for both export and distribution within the country. They told Sunday Trust in separate interviews that though trading in Indian hemp is risky, it is lucrative as well.

Benin-based Igbinosa says he graduated from Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, about three years ago but he could not get a job. “A friend introduced me to the business. He first gave me N70,000 worth of products and asked me to pay him N80,000. He put me on a vehicle [going] to Zaria and gave me the name of a buyer. I went and came back successfully. I made a N120,000 profit. I have made two other trips since then.

“Although I have not been arrested, I know it is not an easy thing to do. My body is telling me that this is not my kind of work. I don’t have peace of mind at all. My mother does not know that I am into this. If I should be arrested, I know she will collapse. I am not sure I can continue. I have a balance of N40,000 with the dealer at Zaria. He doesn’t want to pay me until I deliver another consignment. He can hold the money”, Igbinosa says.

But Isa Gujungu, who resides in Kano, is devising new ways of improving the illicit drug business rather than thinking of how to repent. Gujungu buys, transports, distributes, sells and smokes Ganja. He says he was arrested three times and went to prison twice for cannabis related offences. He describes cannabis as a plant product that only stimulates.

“I was arrested in Okada town here in Edo state with nine bags of ganja and was detained at the old Benin prison for nine months. In that prison, they were selling ganja. I was arrested at ’Yankura in Kano with a polythene bag of ganja and was at the Kano prison for seven months. In that prison, they were selling ganja. I was a tikari (illegal immigrant in Saudi Arabia) for three years before I was arrested and deported. In the city of Makka, on Shari Mansur, they were selling ganja. So, what are you telling me?

Cont’d on page 23