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Police set to investigate
drug dealers
By Folusho
Olanrewaju,
Special
Correspondent,
Akure
The stage for conflict was set on
Monday in Akure, the Ondo State capital as the Nigeria Police and National
Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) appear set for a showdown over
strategies to contain a powerful cabal of Indian Hemp merchants believed
to have their base at Owo and Ifon.
Ondo State Commissioner for
Police, Nwachukwu Egbochukwu, who paraded 18 armed robbery suspects nabbed
recently at various points by men of the State Police Command, hinted that
he had secured the backing of appropriate authorities to search for and
destroy all indian hemp farms in the state "since the NDLEA has failed" in
its duty to curb the rising number of hemp farmers in the
state.
However, Nwachukwu said he did
not want to join issues with the NDLEA, because he had his own job to do
but bared his mind to journalists on the raging war against armed robbery
in the state, saying hard drugs and marijuana had been the major factor
responsible for the rising crime rate in the state saying: �My men are
poised to raid the camp of hemp-growers in the state, especially at Ifon
and Owo, regarded at the 'Colombia' of weed trade�.
The paraded armed robbery suspects
at the headquarters of the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Akure
includes an ex-policeman, two men who claimed to be members of the O�dua
People's Congress (OPC) and three members of a gang who allegedly killed
seven expatriates in Warri, Delta State, early this
year.
The suspects were said to have
been caught with assorted arms such as pistols, charms, guns, live
cartridges and other dangerous weapons at various points of their
operations while three of the gangsters suspected to have killed the
expatriates in Warri- John Ala, Jubilee William and Monday Eboh, were
nabbed after a robbery operation at Owo, Egbochukwu
explained.
He also said the gangsters
were arrested in Warri from where they were transferred to the Ondo State
Police Command where investigations into the Owo attack linked them to the
killings in Warri while another police source claimed that the robbers
actually confessed to them that it was easier to rob in Owo than at
Akure.
One of the suspects who
described himself as an ex-police constable, admitted being a notorious
indian hemp farmer and seller in Owo. He claimed he usually sold a bag of
hemp for between N2,000 and
N5,000 in Owo and environs and about N18,000 per bag in Jos
area.
Another batch of suspected
robbers were also paraded at the 'A' Division of the Ondo State Police
Command on Monday where five suspects, including a car snatcher were
paraded before newsmen.
In the net were also two
members of a gang of robbers who reportedly robbed Agip petrol station of
N500,000 cash and MTN office
of 32 handsets, N50,000 cash as well as several cocoa farmers at
gunpoint.
Speaking after the parade,
Egbochukwu said he had been empowered to rout all indian hemp farms in the
state, since the NDLEA' has not been able to achieve that feat. He assured
that his men were poised to execute the task, "because Indian Hemp affects my
job. Most criminals are often aided by it. Besides, we have been given the
mandate to rid the state of all criminal activities so that the people can
have a peaceful Christmas season", he said.
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