A 101-year-old great-grandmother, Esther Ogunmabo, has explained why she started selling drugs, saying she turned to the trade after fire destroyed her provisions shop.
Ogunmabo was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Ilisan, Ogun State, with 90 grammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, packed in small sachets for sale to locals.
The NDLEA said Ogunmabo told its operatives that one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, supplied the cannabis to her every four days, which she then sold in small quantities.
A statement on Sunday by the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said the arrest was part of the agency’s operations across the country.
The statement partly read, “NDLEA operatives on Saturday, August 15, 2026, arrested a 101-year-old woman, Esther Ogunmabo, in Ilisan, Ogun State, with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 90 grams, which she claims she sells to locals.
“The centenarian told operatives that she resorted to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was razed by fire, adding that one of her daughters, who resides in Lagos, arranges the supply of the substance to her every four days, which she in turn sold in bits.”
Babafemi said the chairman and chief executive officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), directed that Ogunmabo be granted bail and placed on counseling because of her age.
He added that her daughter had been arrested.
