Policeman arrested in Yobe State for supplying Boko Haram with Tramadol tablets

DRUG enforcement agents have arrested a policeman in Yobe State for supplying Boko Haram insurgents fighting government troops in Borno State with 59kg of prohibited Tramadol tablets.

Since 2009, the Nigerian military has been fighting against Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast of the country, in what has been a lengthy and bloody war. As the conflict has raged, the terrorists, who started out as a religious order, have increasingly resorted to drug use as a means of motivating their troops.

Last week, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested a policeman and a drug trafficker for allegedly conniving and supplying the drugs to Boko Haram insurgents in Gwoza, Borno State. Reuben Apeh, the NDLEA commander in Yobe State, said the suspects were arrested on November 7 and the drug trafficker had confessed to buying the prohibited substance from an unnamed customs officer in Lagos.

Mr Apeh said: “He confessed hiring the policeman to convey the drugs to Maiduguri, before proceeding to Gwoza to supply suspected terrorists. He claimed that the drugs were part of consignments seized by the Nigeria Customs during its operations in Lagos and were sold to him at the cost of N6m, while the actual market value stands at N24m.

“We are still working on him to provide us with the details of the alleged Customs officer and another accomplice he claimed was based in Ijora, Lagos State. The drugs were transported from Lagos to Jos and handed over to the policeman for delivery to Maiduguri, where he will take it to suspected terrorists in Gwoza."

According to Mr Apeh,  the suspects would soon be charged to court with the exhibits. He appealed to other stakeholders and the public, to collaborate with the agency in curbing the menace of drug trafficking and consumption.

Mr Apeh also commended his personnel for their incorruptible stand and a firm dedication to duty, saying they have done the command and the agency proud. Established by Decree Number 48 of 1989, the NDLEA was set up to eradicate cannabis by destroying plantings and also targets the leaders of narcotics and money laundering organisations.