‘NDLEA only seeking cheap publicity’, Sen Ashiru replies agency over drug dealing accusations

Senate Deputy Leader, Senator Oyelola Ashiru, has debunked allegations by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), that illicit drugs were recovered from his house in Ilorin, Kwara State, challenging the agency to prosecute anyone arrested by its operatives in connection with the said drugs.

Ashiru had, during a plenary, described the NDLEA as the most corrupt and compromised government agency in the country and called for the formation of a new drug body.

In the aftermath of the attack, the NDLEA, during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, alleged that the Senator made the disparaging comments because of his failure to stop the arrest and trial of some persons allegedly found to be involved in drug abuse in his house.

“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,” part of the agency statement said.

But while reacting to the agency’s accusations, Ashiru challenged it to prosecute anyone caught with drugs in his house.

In a statement issued on Ashiru’s behalf by his legislative aide, Olaitan Adeyanju, the Senator wondered why the agency did not file charges against him if indeed drugs were found at his home.

“We find it preposterous and mere fishing for justification that NDLEA had to wait for the senator’s observation on the floor the Senate before making its spurious allegations,” the statement reads.

“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 nothing 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!”, the senator said.

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