NDLEA Destroys Indian Hemp Farm In Kogi State

Oct 10, 2011 – NDLEA Destroys Indian Hemp Farm In Kogi State

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Isanlu, Kogi State yesterday said it had destroyed a 10-acre Indian hemp farm.

Alhaji Idris Bello, the agency’s Kogi Commander, said the destruction took place last Saturday at the farm located near Ironda village, about seven kilometres away from Isanlu in Yagba East Local Government of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Isanlu is in the Yagba East Local Government of the state.

Bello said the command was informed about the existence of the farm about two months earlier but arrested the suspect, Kehinde Olorunmonu, a 38-year-old farmer, on 4 October.

“After his arrest, he led us to the farm on 6 October,” he said.

The NDLEA official said the plantation which would have been due for harvest in November had been placed under surveillance before the suspect was arrested.

He added that the plants took 33 of the command’s officers and men about three hours to uproot and burn.

“It would have produced more than 100 bags of cannabis sativa if allowed to mature, and this is to tell you the size of the cannabis,” Bello said.

The NDLEA official said while the command was facing logistics challenges, the fight against illicit drugs trafficking and cultivation must be fought to a logical conclusion.

“This will help us to rid the country of narcotics,” he said.

The suspect, Olorunmonu of Mopo Quarters in Isanlu who is a trained lithographer and farmer, said he was lured into the business by one man called “Yellow”.

NAN reports that an NDLEA official had claimed that “Yellow” had been arrested in Edo some years back.

Olorunmonu who claimed that he is a father of three who has been ravaged by poverty also confirmed that he was into the business of retailing the substance in wraps.

He said that he however had a break about two years ago when he was arrested and counseled by the NDLEA.

“But I was forced to go back to the business by poverty and frustration when I lost my means of livelihood,” the suspect said.

He said he spent more than N100,000 on the plantation, and that he usually changed the labourers he used on the farm to conceal his activities.

Bello said the suspect would be arraigned in court upon completion of investigation into the matter. (PM News)