By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The Niger State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has closed down the Oyoyo Filling Station along Kaduna-Abuja Road in Suleja, for allegedly being used to store Indian hemp for trafficking.
The State Commander of the NDLEA, Mr Musa Bwalin, who said this in Minna, Niger state capital on Saturday, 24 June, 2023, said the security man and some staff of the filling station have been taken into custody for further investigation.
According to Bwalin, 1,2072 kilograms of illicit drugs were recovered, while another 2,272 kilograms of Indian hemp were intercepted by his men in Suleja Area Command, adding that the Indian hemp was to be transported to Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory.
The state commander of the agency further revealed that the command recovered a total of 2,218.02 kilograms of Indian hemp in Niger State during various raids on some identified black spots where the illicit substance had been consumed.
The State NDLEA boss also appealed to the Niger Governor, Hon. Mohammed Umar Bago, to assist the agency with operational vehicles to enable them to rid the state of sales and consumption of illicit drugs, assuring that the command will continue to make the state inhabitable for drug merchants.
The state Commander then called on the members of the public to desist from stigmatizing those who are into drugs.
Bwalin added that those arrested during raid of the petrol station will be charged to court.
