Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have made a discovery in the Igor community of Benin City, Edo State: a snake-guarded shrine used to store illicit drugs.
In a statement by Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy for the NDLEA, the operatives found a specially constructed storage hole in a wall, concealed with wallpapers and fetish objects, News About Nigeria reports.
Inside, they discovered various quantities of illicit substances, including methamphetamine, Loud, Colorado, and Arizona—all strong strains of cannabis—with a total weight of 8.743 kilogrammes.
During the operation on Tuesday, two women, Sonia Ezumezu and Risikatu Tijani, were arrested after the big black snake guarding the shrine was neutralised.
The statement read, “A snake-guarded shrine used to store illicit drugs in Igor community, Benin City, Edo State, has been raided by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, who detected a specially constructed large hole storage in a wall covered with wallpapers and fetish objects.
“Different quantities of illicit substances such as methamphetamine, Loud, Colorado, and Arizona, all strong strains of cannabis with a total weight of 8.743 kg, were pulled out of the deep hole dug in the wall of the shrine building.”
In a separate operation, two suspects, Obi Ferguson and Ernest Abanum, were apprehended on Saturday, June 22nd, when NDLEA operatives raided the Usen forest in Ovia South West Local Government Area.
The raid resulted in the seizure of 209 kilogrammes of cannabis and a motorcycle.
Further details in Babafemi’s statement revealed that on Tuesday, June 18th, operatives intercepted a white Nissan Frontier pickup vehicle with amber lights and a fake registration number resembling that of a security agency.
The vehicle was stopped at Kiyi village in the Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Inside, 454 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa, weighing 340.8 kilogrammes and procured from Uzeba, Edo State, were found.
A 76-year-old man, Francis Omofa, linked to the consignment, was subsequently arrested.
