KOGI: NDLEA destroys marijuana farm worth N1.5bn

The Kogi State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement (NDLEA) has confirmed the destruction of large Cannabis Sativa farms stretching over four KM of land in the State worth over N1.5 billion.

This was confirmed on Wednesday by Mr. Alfred Adewumi, NDLEA State Commander while speaking with newsmen during the destruction of the large cannabis farm at Kara Forest in Agbokete Community, of Igalamela/Odolu LGA of the state.

According to Adewumi, Kogi State has transitioned from being a transit point to cultivating State of the illicit drug, stressing further that he could not believe what he had seen on the farm.

“I want to tell you that I am astounded, shocked, and perplexed that something as huge and enormous as this can be discovered in Kogi State.

“Our assumption is that Kogi State, even though it surrounded by some states that are notorious for cannabis Sativa cultivation, is just simply a transit point because of her strategic location. To discover that within Kogi State we can have a plantation of this huge proportion is something that has shocked me to the marrow,” he added

READ ALSO: Man begs NDLEA to kill him instead of destroying his Cannabis farm

Adewumi said the startling discovery was a result of intelligence gathered by the operatives of the command who had placed the suspect on surveillance and was subsequently arrested.

“I will simply tell you that it is a very enormous plantation of cannabis Sativa. It is not just one single farmland and of course, all of you have been on my entourage and we have walked within farms for over four kilometres and we are still within the farms. So to begin to describe what I have seen today is simply to tell you that I am shocked that Kogi State is now being used as a place where Cannabis Sativa is being cultivated so extensively”.

He explained that the farm looks like it was a community business, as it beats logic for over four kilometres of arable land to be dedicated to the cultivation of the illicit drug without the community raising eyebrows.

“I must tell you that what we have here is far in excess of the 7.5 hectares of Cannabis Sativa we discovered sometimes in mid-September. If you put all of these farms together you will see we will be talking of over 35 hectares of cannabis Sativa plantation. To begin to talk about the market value, to be frank with you we are talking about more than N1.5 billion of cultivated illicit drugs here”, he added.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now