The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Deputy Senate Leader Oyelola Ashiru yesterday clashed over arrests and the discovery of illicit drugs from two ‘’joints’’ in Kwara State.
The clash followed allegations by NDLEA Chairman Brig Gen Buba Marwa that Ashiru’s description of his agency as corrupt was borne out of vendetta.
The Deputy Senate Leader had during his contribution to a debate on a Bill for an Act to establish the National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation seven days ago, also alleged that NDLEA had become a compromised body.
He spoke during plenary in the Senate.
But at a news conference in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Gen. Marwa alleged that the lawmaker’s outburst was because NDLEA was determined to root out ‘’illicit drug networks, including the one operating from his residence in Ilorin”.
Last week, Senator Samaila Kawu (Kano South) alleged on the floor of the Senate that some senators were involved in illicit drug. He was ruled out of order by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin who was presiding, for making a comment outside the issue being debated.
Gen. Marwa, a former Lagos State military administrator, represented at the news conference by NDLEA’s Director (Media and Advocacy) Femi Babafemi, said operatives of the anti-narcotic agency found in February that Ashiru’s home in the Government Reservation Area(GRA) in Ilorin, was a drug ‘’joint’’ for both dealers and users.
He added that operatives arrested two aides of the Senator – Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya – during the February raid.
The NDLEA boss also recalled that on June 11, 2023, another man and member of ‘’Senator’s boys,’’ Oluwatosin Odepidan, was arrested with illicit drugs in a “joint” in Offa also in Kwara State.
Odepidan, according to Marwa, jumped bail, but was rearrested, prosecuted, and convicted this year.
In a swift reaction, the Kwara South Senator.said it behooved the NDLEA to prosecute all those arrested from the “joints” in connection with drugs.
In a statement, his Special Assistant, Olaitan Adeyanju, said: “The NDLEA claims to have discovered drugs in Senator Ashiru’s Ilorin house, but there’s no information on which court of law the culprits were charged to.
“In fact, Senator Ashiru has been vocal about the NDLEA’s corruption and compromise, which might be the reason behind these allegations.
“However, the senator has challenged the agency to prosecute anyone that is found with illicit drugs.”
The senator also denied that he sent an aide to influence the dropping of a drug charge against Odepidian, adding that others mentioned by the agency were unfamiliar to him.
Marwa had while acknowledging the support of the National Assembly explained that he needed to ‘’set the record straight for the benefit’’ of other lawmakers.
He said: “The NDLEA is compelled to call this press briefing because of an unfortunate development earlier last week during plenary in the Nigerian Senate when some uncomplimentary, unfounded, defamatory remarks were made against the agency.
“While acknowledging the great work of the Senate towards the upliftment of Nigeria and Nigerians, especially their support for the ongoing concerted efforts towards the amendment of the NDLEA Act, the agency, however, is duty-bound to respond to the unprovoked attack against it by Senator Ashiru.
“There is no doubt that setting up another agency is within the power of the Senate and if we are invited to contribute to the debate, we will be willing to offer our opinion.
“While we cannot fault the power of the Senate on that, yet for a member of the Upper Chamber to have made such an unfounded and unwarranted categorical statement against the agency led us to look inward to see what could have been responsible for such a carpeting general statement.
“What we found was shocking, and we concluded that his statement came from a place of vendetta and certainly not out of public interest or any altruistic motive.
“The personal house of the senator in GRA Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, had been raided in the recent past, where drugs and illicit substances were recovered while two of his aides – Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya – were arrested.
‘’Based on credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed that the senator’s house was being used as a drug joint for drug dealers and users, the house was raided by our operatives at 1:30 pm on February 4, 2024, during which the two aides were arrested, while a third suspect escaped arrest.
“In another encounter with the senator, the agency also received intelligence that some of his boys, popularly known as ‘Omo Senator ’ operating from his hometown, Offa, were equally dealing in illicit drugs.
‘’A raid was subsequently carried out on their joint in Offa where one of them, Oluwatosin Odepidan, was arrested and illicit drugs such as methamphetamine and cannabis recovered from him on June 11, 2023.
“The bid to get the agency to drop the case against Odepidan, including a visit to the Kwara State Command headquarters of the agency in Ilorin by the Personal Assistant to the senator, one Omoluabi, was rebuffed as Odepidan was promptly charged to court and prosecuted.
“Though the culprit jumped court bail in 2023, he was re-arrested in 2024 after the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was eventually convicted and sentenced in June 2024.
“So, going by this backstory, it is deductible that these encounters that the agency has had with the senator, must have been responsible for his outburst, and unfortunately, false allegation, the type that nobody within and outside of government has ever leveled against NDLEA before.”
[TheNation]