Operatives of Yobe State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have sealed off the state secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Damaturu and arrested hundreds of suspected illicit drug users. Among those arrested were women.
Officials of the NDLEA were seen at the premises of the party and had to use three of their vehicles to block the main gate of the party’s secretariat.
Our correspondent who visited the scene reports that the raid was carried out on Friday night at about 9:20pm.
A credible source at the NDLEA command confirmed to LEADERSHIP Sunday that the raid was carried out as a result of series of complaints received by the agency from some top government officials and residents of the area on the activities of hoodlums hanging around the premises of the party’s state secretariat. Residents alleged that the drug addicts had been using the place for their illicit drug business since 1999.
LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that some of the suspects took to their heels on sighting operatives of the agency while some of them hid in the party’s secretariat.
Another source confirmed that many of the suspects were found in possession of several wraps of cannabis, adding that those found with the incriminating substances would be arraigned.
Reacting to the raid, an APC member who didn’t want his name in print denied that the suspects were members of the party but admitted that they were arrested near the party’s state headquarters.
When LEADERSHIP Sunday contacted both the NDLEA and state publicity secretary of the APC to comment on the arrest, they declined.
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