NSCDC officials arrest Ghanaians smuggling N200m worth of Indian hemp into Nigeria

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Uba Group

Nine Ghanaians alleged of smuggling about 201 bags of Indian hemp (cannabis sativa) valued at N200m into the country have been paraded by the Security and Civil Defence Corps, Lagos State Command.

The suspects identified simply as Musa, Gasie, Adotete, Sottie, Tette, Okonipa, Stephen, Toyokpti and Natte, all Ghanaians fishermen, were paraded in Lagos on Monday.

The state commandant of NSCDC, Edenabu Okoro Eweka, in his speech during the parade at the Command’s headquarters in Ikeja, said that the suspects were arrested with the support of the Nigerian Navy.

The intelligence-driven operation, he said, was done by the Marine Unit of the NSCDC.

According to him, the contrabands were smuggled into Nigeria from Ghana with the aid of some accomplices.

“The suspects loaded the products in a shop with the hope of smuggling them into the country.

“But, they didn’t know that our Ghanaian counterpart had informed us and we followed up. From our investigation, the hemp is worth N200m in the market.

“The suspects were traced with two of the 17 boats that were recently donated to us.

“They were apprehended when they ran out of fuel and one of them strolled into the country to get fuel. It was then our officers descended on them.

“Though it was not in the jurisdiction of the agency to delve into drug matters, but the interwoven connectivity between drug addiction and government’s critical infrastructures necessitated the arrest,” Eweka said.

The agency also paraded three young men for vandalizing armored cables in Ikeja.

The suspects, Rahman, Taiwo and Amon, residents of the area, were said to have been terrorising the state capital for over two years.