THE Akwa Ibom State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mrs. Josephine Obi, has expressed disappointment over the rate at which physically challenged people indulge in criminal activities.
Obi spoke to journalists Monday in her office in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where she announced the arrest of a physically challenged man, Mr. Udim Afangideh, several times over the same crime of dealing in illegal drugs.
According to her, the 25-year old man had been arrested for similar offence and was immediately released after he was warned to stay off the illegal business because of his state of health. This time, the NDLEA boss said, the agency would not give Afangideh that leniency, as he would be charged to court as soon as investigations into his case are completed, to serve as deterrent to other physically challenged persons indulging in illegal businesses.
She said some disabled persons deal in hard drugs with the hope that when they are caught, they would not be prosecuted due to their condition.
Another suspect, a disabled mother of two, Mrs. Ekom Akpan, was arrested with 100 grammes of dry weed recovered from under her legs, which were covered with a cloth, while some were concealed in a black nylon hidden under a plantain stem close to a building where she runs a provision store at Utu Midim village in Abak Local Council.
Afangideh, the commander explained, was caught in Ukana Ikot Ntuen in Essien Udim Council with 1.8 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa in two big parcels, wraps, and loose quantities.
She said her men arrested the suspects during routine surveillance and raid of illegal drug joints in the Ikot Ekpene Area Command, adding that the suspects have confessed to committing the offence.
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