Officials bust drug gang at Ikoyi Prisons

Officials of the Nigerian Prisons Services (NPS) have smashed a three-man drug syndicate at Ikoyi Prisons.

Two members of the gang were arrested; the third escaped. Those arrested are Ikuomola Abolade, 22, and an inmate Sodeeq Yunusa, who is standing trial for alleged robbery.

The gang, it was learnt, was attempting to sell Indian hemp to some inmates when it ran out of luck on Sunday.

A 10-year-old boy was said to have seen some people throwing some parcels into the prison from the adjoining officials’ quarters and raised the alarm.

The boy was said to have been prepared for such task with the formation of an Intelligence and Monitoring Committee comprising some prison officials, their wives, the drug unit and the police by the Head of the Prisons, Deputy Controller of Prisons (DCP) Tolu Ogunshakin, to monitor the activities of ‘intruders’.

A source said:  “But before the boy’s father could come out of their house, the suspects ran away and boarded a tricycle heading for Obalende.”

It was learnt that the boy’s father alerted his colleagues and together they chased the suspects in their vehicle and caught them at Obalende.

Abolade was arrested in a commercial bus, but his colleague escaped.

The prison’s Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) was said to have captured Yunusa, the inmate, as he attempted to “catch the thrown parcels”.

The parcels were said to contain Indian hemp, with a street value of  over N150,000.

Abolade, it was learnt, confessed that the parcels were meant for Yunusa.

Abolade is in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja pending completion of investigation.

Lagos State Controller of Prisons (CP) Tunde Ladipo said that the suspects would not go unpunished.

Yunusa, he said, had committed another offence, addind that the inmate will be punished according to the law.

Ladipo said a formal report would be made against Yunusa at the next hearing of his case in court.

He said investigation showed that Abolade became acquainted with Yunusa during his visits to the prisons to see his brother, Idris Kolawole, an awaiting robbery trial inmate.

Ladipo said the authority would not spare those found culpable, stressing that “the CCTV has proved to be very useful and is there to help fish out criminals, whether they are inmates or officials.”