Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 101-year-old great-grandmother, Esther Ogunmabo, for allegedly selling cannabis in Ilisan, Ogun State, in a case that has exposed the desperate lengths to which some elderly Nigerians are being driven by economic hardship. The agency disclosed the arrest in a statement on Sunday, August 23, 2026, by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, highlighting what it described as significant breakthroughs across the country's land and maritime borders over the past week. Ogunmabo was arrested on Saturday, August 15, 2026, with retail sachets of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 90 grammes, which she reportedly sold to locals in her community. The centenarian told operatives that she resorted to the illicit drug trade after a fire razed her provisions shop, leaving her without a source of livelihood. She further revealed that one of her daughters, who resides in Lagos, arranged the supply of the substance to her every four days, which she then sold in small quantities to customers.
The arrest of a 101-year-old woman for drug peddling has raised profound questions about the state of social welfare and economic security in Nigeria, where many elderly citizens struggle to survive without adequate government support or family care. The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), directed that Ogunmabo be granted bail and placed on counselling due to her advanced age, while her daughter was arrested in connection with the alleged drug supply chain. The decision to grant bail to the centenarian reflects a recognition of her vulnerability, but it also underscores the systemic failures that have pushed a woman of her age into the illicit drug trade. The agency's statement, however, did not specify whether Ogunmabo would face prosecution or whether the counselling would be part of a broader rehabilitation programme.
The Ogunmabo case was one of several major operations conducted by the NDLEA in the past week. In Akwa Ibom State, operatives intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas on Friday, August 21, 2026, conveying illicit drugs to fishing settlements in the Republic of Cameroon. Three suspects were arrested, including 27-year-old Kingsley Effiong John, who was found with 20 grammes of cocaine cleverly concealed inside a large wrap of edible cassava fufu, alongside 435 grammes of skunk. The other suspects, 29-year-old Etima Effiong Eekpo and 33-year-old Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, were found with 1.120kg and 42.060kg of skunk respectively, bringing the total narcotics recovered from the boat to 42.622kg.
In what the agency described as a historic first, NDLEA operatives also intercepted two containers of cannabis indica, commonly known as Loud, shipped from Thailand through the maritime corridor, with a combined street value estimated at over N4.4 billion. At the Apapa Port in Lagos, a container declared to contain dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries was found, during a joint examination on Friday, August 21, by the NDLEA, Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies, to contain 1,090.5kg of Thai Loud packed in 54 cartons comprising 2,181 sachets of 500 grammes each. At the Lekki Deep Sea Port, another container monitored by the NDLEA yielded 400kg of the illicit substance hidden beneath pallets of A4 paper. The seizures mark the first recorded interception of drugs shipped into Nigeria through a maritime route from Thailand, indicating the emergence of a new trafficking route being exploited by drug syndicates.
The agency also reported several other arrests and seizures across the country. In Ondo State, operatives destroyed 10,000kg of cannabis cultivated on four hectares of farmland in Ijare Forest, Ifedore Local Government Area, while 210kg of skunk was recovered at Ita-Ogbolu in Akure North Local Government Area. In Kwara State, 1.325kg of methamphetamine and quantities of cannabis were recovered from a car intercepted along the Ogbomosho-Ilorin Expressway. In Ibadan, Oyo State, a 65-year-old woman was arrested with a 4.68kg cocktail of Loud, tramadol, codeine syrup, diazepam and flunitrazepam. Further raids in Kano, Seme (Lagos), and Abia State yielded significant quantities of Loud, Colorado, tramadol and rohypnol.
Marwa commended the operatives for their vigilance and professionalism, urging them to sustain the momentum in the agency's intensified efforts to disrupt drug trafficking and distribution networks. He said the operations reflected the agency's "balanced approach" to drug control, combining enforcement with prevention and treatment. Alongside the enforcement actions, NDLEA commands nationwide continued sensitisation activities under its War Against Drug Abuse campaign, engaging schools, religious institutions and community leaders across Kano, Oyo, Kebbi, Taraba, Edo and Ogun states. The arrest of 101-year-old Esther Ogunmabo, while a significant operational achievement, serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of drug abuse and the desperate circumstances that can drive even the most vulnerable members of society into the illicit drug trade.
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