Police arrest soldier with 81 blocks of Indian Hemp
Story from Ahmad SAKA, Bauchi
A 34-year-old soldier, Yusuf Gongpolai Adams, has been arrested by operatives of Bauchi State Police Command with 81 blocks suspected to be Cannabis sativa popularly called Indian Hemp which he was allegedly going to deliver to the buyer.
The Bauchi State Police Commissioner, Umar Mamman Sanda, paraded him and other suspects at a news conference of the Command Headquarters.
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He said that the soldier was arrested while travelling on the Bauchi-Darazo road by operatives of the ‘Safer Highway’ Patrol Team of the Command.
The patrol team, he said, intercepted a Toyota Highlander vehicle driven by one Yusuf Gongpolai Adams who later introduced himself as serving military personnel in Abia State.
The Commissioner said, “The suspect is attached to the Nigerian Army, 145 Battalion, Abia State, and he is presently on a development course at the Nigerian Army School of Environmental and Science Technology, Benue State”.
He said that “A thorough search was conducted on the vehicle and 81 parcels of dry leaves suspected to be cannabis were found in his possession, one pair of army uniform, a helmet and charms amongst others.”
Sanda said that the suspect would be handed over to the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as soon as investigations were completed.
However, the suspect while fielding questions from journalists said that he was not aware that he was carrying the contraband in his vehicle at the time of the arrest.
He said, “I am a Lance Corporal in the Nigerian Army. One of my friends (he refused to disclose his name) begged me to help him deliver the vehicle to someone in the state, he told me that he had sold the vehicle to him but he could not come to Benue to pick it”.
Probed further by journalists, he said, “I trusted him because we have been friends for a long time, I did not search the vehicle, I just drove it, mine was just to deliver it and go back. Not until it was searched and the things were discovered, I never knew what was inside”.
He, however, said that he had gotten across to the friend to tell him what has happened but he was yet to come over to Bauchi to see him saying, “I regret what happened, I made a serious mistake by not checking to know the content of the vehicle before driving it to Bauchi”.
