The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Nigeria arrested 101-year-old Esther Ogunmabo on Saturday, August 15, on suspicion of drug dealing. The agency reported that Ms. Ogunmabo was in possession of 90 grams of skunk, a high-potency strain of cannabis, at the time of her arrest.
According to the NDLEA, Ms. Ogunmabo stated she began selling the substance after her shop was destroyed by a fire. She told investigators that one of her daughters, who resides in Lagos, arranged for a supply of the drug every four days, which Ms. Ogunmabo then sold in small quantities to local residents.
Following the arrest, the NDLEA granted Ms. Ogunmabo bail and referred her for counseling, citing her advanced age. Officials confirmed that the suspect's daughter was also arrested. The agency described the case as a rare occurrence within a broader series of enforcement actions targeting drug trafficking across Nigeria’s land and maritime borders.
The agency reported several other arrests and seizures during the same period. On Friday, August 21, officers intercepted a wooden boat on the high seas. Three men—Etima Effiong Eekpo, Otobong Eyoh Etukudoh, and Kingsley Effiong John—were arrested with varying amounts of skunk and cocaine. In one instance, the agency reported finding 20 grams of cocaine hidden inside a wrap of fufu, an edible cassava flour.
The scale of the broader operation involves the seizure of significant quantities of narcotics, including over 43 kilograms of cannabis and various amounts of cocaine from a single maritime interception. Additionally, the NDLEA reported its first-ever seizure of cannabis indica shipped from Thailand through the Apapa and Lekki ports. The agency’s identification of new trafficking routes from Southeast Asia suggests that Nigerian law enforcement is shifting resources to monitor maritime shipping containers in addition to local street-level sales.
For the Nigerian public and the international community, these developments signal a heightened level of surveillance at major ports of entry and on the high seas. The use of edible food products like fufu to conceal narcotics indicates the methods being employed to bypass security. What happens next depends on the prosecution of the five named suspects and the agency's ongoing monitoring of the Port of Laem Chabang route. As of the report, Ms. Ogunmabo remains on bail pending further legal or counseling requirements.