Standing in dark alleys dotting the landscape on the ever-busy Akerele Street along Ipaja Road in Agege, Lagos, are groups of rough-looking and heavy-chested young boys and girls, each of them clutching black polythene bags containing illicit drugs worth millions of Naira.
Each of them bears visible scars of various shapes and sizes, probably sustained in past scuffles with either their own kind or during some of the frequent brushes with security agents.
They patiently await their ‘prospective customers’, who, apparently, are familiar with the terrain and the dealers of the various substances.
Their eyes dart around as the consumers, intermittently, drop by to purchase the various stuffs required to make them “high”.
“Indian hemp, cocaine and heroin! Which one do you care for? We have all the stuffs. A wrap of India hemp is N300; if you want “white or brown”, they are all available. White is cocaine, brown is heroin,” a young dealer educates our undercover reporter he mistakes for an intending buyer.
This is the typical scenario on the notorious Akerele Street. The truth is, Akerele Street is not like any other locality.
There is more to life in this street than meets the eye.
Majority of the residents of this crowded street are alleged to be involved in dealing in hard drugs. Even the aged and children are not left out of this illicit business. Some of the dealers are said to be as old as 70 years.
The average Akerele resident is said to be at his best when dealing with issues bordering on the sale of illicit drugs.
A week-long investigation by our correspondent revealed a lot about what has earned Akerele Street its age-long notoriety.
On-the-spot investigation by our correspondent further revealed that on sighting a car owner within their colony, these salesmen/ women, who are actually the children of settlers mainly from Badagry, Ondo and Delta States respectively, simply rush at them with their black nylon bags, soliciting patronage.A source, who pleaded anonymity, however, disclosed that the dealers would rather die holding tightly to their “bags of fortune” than to release it to the wrong person, particularly law enforcement agents.
Taye Olomofe, who claimed to be a former gang leader in the area, told our correspondent that, “The parents of these boys you see here were once used by the super-rich as land grabbers to settle scores; so, they learned the habit and the trade from them. They are ready to die protecting the black nylon bag. It’s on the streets they learn the art of being tough as could be seen by the number of scars on their bodies.
“They see the scars as mark of pride. The idea is that, the more the scars on your body, the more people believe that you are very tough. Hence, the name, Akerele, which translates, “be tough as you grow”.
Olomofe, who is in his 50s, stressed that the business of selling hard drugs was not strange to the residents as they inherited the ‘art’ from their forbears.
“It is a family business, you know. Our parents traded in drugs, most especially Indian hemp, to build houses. Can you allow the legacy of your family goes down the drain while you are still alive? The answer is no! You just have to preserve it. That is what is going on here,” he said.
Olomofe told our correspondent that he remained a regular consumer of India hemp, explaining, “Akerele does not grow drugs. We source for them, either from Oju-Ina in Lagos Island or we simply buy from various sources at Akala area of Mushin. We usually ferry the drugs at night, using Okada to avoid the prying eyes of the law enforcement agents”. It was gathered from an independent source that the godfathers of the drug trade in the area are the well-to-do individuals, who cruise around in exotic cars.
“On this Street, the use of knives and broken bottles during fights is a commonplace, while gang-raping of women, most especially in the night, is also a frequent occurrence. Go to Isokoko Police Station, Elere or Alabo, they all know that Akerele is neither a street for the meek nor dullards. You have to be smart here.
“If we are caught by any narcotic officer, we “settle” because, that is our language. You chop and I chop. You scratch my back and I scratch your back. We work here as neighbour-to-neighbour. And if we are raided by the NDLEA operatives from Ikoyi, what we do is to contact our masters, because we are all working for someone who pays us weekly commissions”, a drug hawker, Osaretin Idewu said.
Independent investigation revealed that, in the recent past, the proportion of marijuana users, who smoke daily has rapidly grown, and that many of those frequent users are poor and lack high school certificates. The general consensus among them, however, is that, school or no school, life continues.
The Point was informed that the economic hardship that has lately hit the Nigerian state, has also somewhat shot up the number of marijuana users.
A sociologist, Mr. Idowu Osanyin Oladimeji, said that the rate of daily consumption of the illicit substance has got closer to cigarette smokers than alcohol drinkers.
Oladimeji added that barely 20 years ago, the ratio of the users of marijuana was only one to 30.
“Now, it is common-place as daily or near-daily users account for over two-thirds of self-reported days of use,” he said.
However, the spokesperson of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, Mr. Mitchel Ofoyeju, told our correspondent on the phone that none of the agency’s operatives was involved in protecting drug dealers.
Ofoyeju described Akerele Street as, “one of the black spots and we shall continue to raid their joints.
“There is no hiding place for either drug dealers, wheelers or consumers. Therefore, tough time awaits anybody caught in the web of drug-dealing,” he said.
