N5m bribe: NDLEA official arrested

CULLED FROM punchng.com :  A senior officer with the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, Akwa Ibom State Command, has been arrested in connection with the N5m bribe the agency’s officials allegedly received from two drug barons identified simply as Beauty and Rose.
A source, who did not wish to be named, told our correspondent on Wednesday that the arrested official was attached to the agency’s office in Ikot Ekpene.

The source, who reiterated that the NDLEA Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, was interested in the case, said what gave out the official was a document detailing how the barons were arrested, detained and later released without due process.
He said, “The information we have as at now is that a top official has been arrested by officials from the agency’s headquarters in Uyo. You know there is a document about the matter, so it’s easy to link it with somebody who has committed the act.
“The official would be in for it because officials from the agency’s office in Ikot Ekpene were not supposed to make arrest in Uyo. But we have a situation where the official acted outside his jurisdiction, collected bribe and released the drug suspects.”
The source said as all these were going on NDLEA officials in Uyo were unaware until when the bubble burst.
“The head of the NDLEA in Uyo has a lot of integrity and would not allow that to happen. Already, the issue is generating a lot of ripples because of the interest shown by the chairman of the agency,” the source said.
The barons were arrested by the police and handed over to the NDLEA but they were released after they allegedly bribed officials of the agency.
However, police re-arrested them on May 8, 2012, following a tip-off that they had been released and were back to business on Aka Road, Uyo.
When their apartment was searched, PUNCH Metro learnt that large quantities of cocaine, heroin and marijuana were found.
A police source said the drug barons were still in police detention, saying the women would not be handed over to the NDLEA unless the agency fulfilled certain conditions.
“They are still in police custody, we cannot release them. The chairman of the drug agency is interested in this issue, and besides it’s a national mess, we cannot release them without proper procedures,” he said.
When contacted, the head of the NDLEA in the state, Mrs. Ruth Obi, said investigation was still ongoing.
Asked if any arrest had been made, she said, “The investigation is still on. The people (investigators) must turn in their report before any action is taken.”