The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has accused the Senator representing Kwara South senatorial district of abhorring drug takers at his residences in Ilorin and Offa respectively.
The accusation came a week after Senator Ashiru declared support for the creation of ‘The National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation’ on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, 15, October 2024.
The senator had described the NDLEA as the “most corrupt and compromised, hence, I support the creation of the National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation” while contributing to the debate on a ‘Bill for an Act to establish National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation’.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the NDLEA Director, Media, and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi on Monday, 21, October 2024, the agency accused Senator Ashiru of vendetta in his support for the creation of a rival agency after they raided his residences twice and arrested three of his aides found with illicit drugs.
The statement reads in part:
“There is no doubt that setting up another agency is within the power of the Senate and if we are invited to contribute to the debate we will be willing to offer our opinion.
“While we cannot fault the power of the senate on that, yet for a member of the upper chamber to have made such an unfounded and unwarranted categorical statement against the Agency led us to look inward to see what could have been responsible for such a carpeting general statement. What we found was shocking, and we concluded that his statement came from a place of vendetta and certainly not out of public interest or any altruistic motive.
“The personal house of the senator in GRA Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, had been raided in the recent past, where drugs and illicit substances were recovered while two of his aides: Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya were arrested.
“Based on credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed that the senator’s house was being used as a drug joint for drug dealers and users, the house was raided by our operatives at 1:30 pm on February 4, 2024, during which the two aides were arrested, while a third suspect escaped arrest.
“In another encounter with the senator, the Agency also received intelligence that some of his boys popularly known as “Omo Senator” operating from his hometown, Offa, were equally dealing in illicit drugs. A raid was subsequently carried out on their joint in Offa where one of them, Oluwatosin Odepidan was arrested and illicit drugs such as methamphetamine and cannabis were recovered from him on June 11, 2023.
“The bid to get the Agency to drop the case against Odepidan including a visit to the Kwara State Command headquarters of the Agency in Ilorin by the Personal Assistant to the senator, one Omoluabi, was rebuffed as Odepidan was promptly charged to court and prosecuted. Though the culprit jumped court bail in 2023, he was re-arrested in 2024 after the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was eventually convicted and sentenced in June 2024.
“So, going by this backstory, it is deductible that these encounters that the Agency has had with the senator, must have been responsible for his outburst, and unfortunately, false allegation, the type that nobody within and outside of government has ever leveled against NDLEA before.”
The Agency said despite the impression Senator Ashiru was trying to create about its image, the NDLEA has continued to receive accolades from local and international bodies for its successes in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.
“Incidentally, the next day after Senator Ashiru made the statement, NDLEA in Lagos commissioned a new Marine Command Headquarters building donated by the Government of the UK.
“A similar facility at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport was donated last year by the same British government. We have had other facilities donated by United States INL and executed by UNODC in the past 12 months. We have been receiving various support from the governments of France, Germany, and the US, among others.
“Suffice it to say that in the past three years, NDLEA has emerged as a regional leader among national drug law enforcement agencies. So, come to think about it, an agency so badmouthed by Senator Ashiru couldn’t have been attracting such international goodwill and commendation for being the “most corrupt government agency” in Nigeria.
“Against the background of our encounter with people linked to him, we want to believe that Senator Ashiru’s invectives against NDLEA were borne out of vendetta and not any opinion made in the public interest.
“So, if Senator Ashiru has a personal grudge against NDLEA, it shouldn’t be cloaked as a matter of public concern.
“His statement of October 15, 2024, uttered in the hallowed chamber of the Nigerian Senate, is a gross abuse of his position as a legislator of the Federal Republic to undermine an agency of government by wrong accusation calculated to erode public confidence in NDLEA and detract from its integrity. And we dare say that such will not deter us from our ongoing effort to dismantle all illicit drug networks including the one operating from the senator’s residence,” it said.
However, in his counter-reaction, the senator via a statement signed by his media aide, Olaitan Adeyanju denied the allegation that some of the Senator’s aides were arrested in Ilorin and Offa for having illicit drugs and said no such names mentioned by the agency in the payroll of his principal.
The statement reads:
“We find it preposterous and mere fishing for justification that NDLEA had to wait for the senator’s observation on the floor of the Senate before making its spurious allegations.
“As a matter of fact, Senator Ashiru never employed any aide bearing Ibrahim Mohammed or Mohammd Yahaya as bandied by NDLEA.
“The agency claimed that its operatives visited the senator’s Ilorin house and found something incriminating.
“The entire house was searched, and nothing incriminating was found. If any drugs were found on certain persons mentioned by the NDLEA, it is rational to ask at which court of law were the culprits charged?
“It is also important to state that Senator Ashiru has not sent any aide to the NDLEA to influence the dropping of drug allegations against anyone known as Tosin Odepidian. Indeed, all the names mentioned by the agency are strange, and none works directly or indirectly with Senator Ashiru.
“The NDLEA has the duty to take anyone suspected of drug dealing to court rather than name-calling and engaging in media trial.
“This clarification is necessary to set the record straight and address the misleading information circulated by the NDLEA.
“It is an open secret that many criminals, cultists, armed robbers, and drug addicts find their way back into business after gratifying and bribing law enforcement officers.
“The NDLEA ought to search its house and fish out bad eggs rather than seek cheap publicity!
“Senator Ashiru remains committed to serving the people of Kwara South and upholding the truth at all times in the search for strict professionalism among our law enforcement agencies.”
