The Lagos State Police Command apprehended Taye Abass, a female trader who allegedly trafficked Colorado, a strong narcotic, through her niece (name withheld) to avoid police inspections.
On Tuesday, the woman, who lives in the Oko Oba area of Lagos, confessed to the crime while being paraded by police at the state headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos.
Abbas stated that she always used the girl to take the drugs from their home to her shop to avoid getting stopped because no one would suspect a small girl.
Abbas said, “When I went to Ilorin, my mother asked me to bring her with me to Lagos about two months ago. I sell drinks. When she got to my place, feeding was hard. Where I usually take my drinks for sale, somebody then introduced me to Colorado, where I should be selling them. He told me the police always arrested people selling it. So whenever I am taking the drinks for sale, I usually put it (the drug) in her underwear and ask her to put it in the shop, where I always collect it back from her.”
The woman pleading for mercy requested forgiveness, claiming that it was due to hardship and that other conspirators had fled.
The underage girl stated that she was brought to the police station and that when she tried to bathe, the drug was discovered on her body.
“I told them it was my sister’s mom that put it on me. She started putting it on me when I came to her place.
“She used to sell it, but I don’t know those that do come to buy it. She tells me she puts it on my body because the police cannot search me,” the girl said.
Speaking to the press, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the suspect was arrested through the collaborative efforts of the public and the police.
Hundeyin said, “This shows the success the collaboration with the public is yielding. The girl was found roaming the street, and a good neighbor brought her to the station, so she was taken to the station, where she complained that she was being maltreated at home, and she ran away while running an errand. While she was being made to have her bath and change her clothes, it was discovered that the drug was hidden in her pants, and that prompted further questions.”
“We extended the investigation to her home, and we were able to bring her guardian to the station at the Pen Cinema Division. She did not deny it; she admitted that had been her way to courier the drugs from her home to her shops.
“The girl will be handed over to her family, and the suspect will be prosecuted accordingly” Hundeyin stated.
