A 16-year-old daughter, Olamide Saliu and her 43-year-old woman, Alaba Mulika have been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly trading in cannabis. The mother and daughter duo are ‘little people’.
The duo were paraded alongside 56 other suspects on Thursday, by the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu at the command’s headquarters at Eleweran, Abeokuta, while Briefing newsmen on the arrest of the mother and daughter, Iliyasu said that Mulika had involved in the sale of the illicit drug for more than five years.
“On August 5, at about 10:00 a.m., operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) got information about the sale of Indian hemp in Awa Ijebu, so they stormed the town and raided the suspects’ joint” said IIiyasu.
“On getting there, they found the woman and her daughter selling hemp, skunk and other drugs and arrested them with their exhibits,” he added.
It was learnt that Mulika was arrested by SARS about two years ago and handed over to the state command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Mulika, who said she was an Oru indigene but lives in Awa Ijebu, confirmed that she was arrested because she was selling Indian hemp.
“I didn’t have any problem with the traditional ruler of Awa-Ijebu; it is the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the town who said he doesn’t want people selling Indian hemp.
“I know Indian hemp is not good, and the Nigerian law does not support trading in it, but I am into it in order to survive. My husband is late. My daughter, Olamide, was not helping me to sell Indian hemp; we were just together in the shop when policemen came to arrest me.
“When I was told to stop selling Indian hemp, I agreed, but I pleaded that I should be allowed to finish selling the ones I had. I am ready to stop selling Indian hemp; I am ready to join the theatre industry if I can find someone to introduce me into it.” she said.
On her part, Olamide, admitted that her mother sells Indian hemp.
“But that was what we were surviving on. She feeds eight people along with herself, making nine. My grandma is down with stroke, and my mother’s younger sister, who is also a dwarf, has cancer of the breast. And it is only my mother who is taking care of them all.”