The Edo Command of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested two suspected cannabis cultivators.
Mr Buba Wakawa, the Commander of the NDLEA, disclosed this to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Benin on Monday.
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Wakawa disclosed that the suspects Ohimai Friday, 36, and Friday Ohiuan, 45, were each caught with 241kg and 177kg of plants suspected to be cannabis sativa.
He said that the suspects have confessed to the crime and were currently being investigated.
According to him: “One of the drug suspects, Friday Ohiuan in his confessional statement lamented that most of the cannabis he harvested from his farm was stolen.
”In his words,” I have been cultivating cannabis for the past three years but thieves did not allow me to enjoy the fruit of my labour.
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“The 177kg was all that was left and now NDLEA has come to carry the leftover.
“I started cannabis cultivation so as to raise money in preparation for the burial of my mother-in-law who is very old but my hope has been dashed,” Wakawa quoted the suspect as saying.
The Commander disclosed that investigation revealed that Ohiuan is married with six children and hails from Sabongida-Ora.
Meanwhile, Friday who hails from Afuze in Owan East told NAN that he too did not enjoy his criminal act.
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He said: “This is my first time of cultivating cannabis.
“I am a driver but after I had accident I relocated to the village where I was introduced into cannabis cultivation by a friend.
“The drug found with me was all that I harvested as I could not sell any before my arrest.
“This is very painful because all my labour is wasted”.
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Wakawa also told NAN that the command has impounded a Toyota Sienna bus filled with dried weeds suspected to be cannabis.
The vehicle with registration number Lagos KSF 932 CM would be forfeited to the Federal Government at the end of investigation, the commander said.
He explained that the bus was impounded by officers attached to Okada Area command after it took off from Utese in Ovia North East Local Government Area of the State.
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He also said that the vehicle contained a total of 45 bags of dried weeds that tested positive for cannabis sativa commonly known as marijuana.
“However, the driver fled upon sighting the officers abandoning the bus but efforts are ongoing to arrest those behind the illicit drug shipment”, he observed.
