Oyo: NDLEA arrests 417 suspects, secures 54 convictions for drug offences

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Oyo State Command, has said it arrested 417 suspects for various drug related offences and also secured 54 convictions between January and December 2023.

The NDLEA Commander in the state, Olayinka Joe-Fadile, made this known in an interview with journalists in Ibadan on Tuesday.

Joe-Fadile said that the suspects comprised 340 males and 77 females nabbed for dealing in cannabis sativa, tramadol, diazepam, colorado and other psychotropic substances during the period under review.

He said that eight tonnes of various narcotic and psychotropic substances valued at N135.6 million were seized by the command in the year under review.

The commander further said that 54 of the 91 suspects charged to court by the command were convicted for various drug-related offences with jail terms, ranging from six months to 10 years.

“The command gave brief intervention via counselling to 246 people, comprising 205 males and 41 females, who used drugs.

“Thirteen people were rehabilitated and integrated back to society in the period under review.

“Efforts are underway to equip and re-purpose as a standard rehabilitation centre the acquired facility in Iseyin for the purpose of counselling and rehabilitation,” the commander said.

He said that operatives of the command were constantly stationed at the state entry checkpoints, where they usually stopped a lot of drug traffickers allegedly moving drugs into the state and made a lot of arrests.

Joe-Fadile said that the command was doing its best to clear all hot spots where drugs were sold on a daily basis in the state.

He called on the people of the state and other stakeholders to collaborate with the agency in order to rid the state of illicit drugs.

“We cannot be everywhere but we try as much as we can to make good arrests from checkpoints and stop a lot of drugs from entering the state.

“We strongly believe that drugs are a catalyst for every crime and violence, so removing drugs from the equation enhances our drive towards a crime-free society.

“It is our collective effort against drug abuse that can sanitise our society,” the commander said.