Leadership<\/a> (Abuja)<\/p>\nAgency Report<\/p>\n
26 December 2011<\/p>\n
\nThe National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of a 38-year old South African woman, Nene Fikil, for alleged drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju, the spokesman for the anti-drug agency, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the suspect was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, on Dec. 17.<\/p>\n
He said the suspect was trying to board an Emirates Airline plane when she developed stomach pain and called for medical assistance.<\/p>\n
“She gave herself up when she suddenly held her stomach in pain at the departure hall.<\/p>\n
“She was to go through screening when suddenly she held her stomach and beckoned on security officials, demanding to see a doctor.”<\/p>\n
“Immediately, she was taken for scan which confirmed positive for narcotics ingestion.<\/p>\n
“Under observation, she excreted 55 wraps of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, weighing 700 grammes; preliminary investigation revealed that she travelled to Malaysia from South Africa.”<\/p>\n
It was in Malaysia that she was recruited to smuggle drugs from Cotonou, Benin Republic, where she ingested the drug,” Ofoyeju said.<\/p>\n
He said that a doctor was invited to assist the suspect overcome the situational reaction to drug ingestion in order to save her life.<\/p>\n
Ofoyeju said that the suspect, in her confessional statement, claimed to be a single mother and that she wanted to make life better for her 19-year old daughter.<\/p>\n
“My desire to give my only child the best education made me to engage in drug trafficking; this is my first time and I was scared of death.”<\/p>\n
“I reported myself when I was feeling acute pain in my stomach,” the NDLEA spokesman quoted the suspect as saying.<\/p>\n
The South African Embassy in Nigeria had been contacted, while some officials had visited her, he said.<\/p>\n
Ofoyeju said that investigation would also be carried out under the aegis of the West Africa Joint Operations, an umbrella body of anti-drug agencies in the West African sub-region, because she got the drug in Cotonou.<\/p>\n
“We hope to dismantle the drug cell that sponsored the suspect, possibly under a joint operation since two countries are involved.<\/p>\n
“Certainly, no stone shall be left unturned in this case.”<\/p>\n
The spokesman said the suspect would be charged to court on completion of investigation.<\/p>\n
AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n
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