By Jimitota Onoyume
Police operatives from the Ekpan Division in Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State, have arrested an 11-year-old girl for illegal possession of controlled substances.
The girl, who identified herself only as Rejoice during an interview with the State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, at the Police Headquarters in Asaba, said she was arrested in a commercial tricycle in Warri while on her way home.
According to the suspect, the drugs were worth N100,000.
“My name is Rejoice. My mum sent me to buy the drugs, and I was arrested with them in a Keke. I was alone with the driver in the Keke. I had codeine, tramadol, and ‘swinnol’ in the bag,” she said. She denied allegations circulating on some blogs that she was arrested for drugs found in a Keke she merely boarded. The suspect maintained that she was the one who brought the drugs in a black polythene bag.
Her mother, Esther Ugbunugo, 45, who also spoke, admitted that she sent her daughter to buy the drugs. She said she sold them to a group of boys she described as “Yahoo boys,” adding that she occasionally used the drugs herself.
“My daughter was arrested with drugs – codeine and tramadol. I sent her to get them on Jakpa Road. I’ve been doing the business for almost two years now. I sell them to Yahoo boys. I also take a little tramadol to sleep when I have trouble sleeping,” she confessed.
Meanwhile, the police spokesperson expressed concern that a child so young could be exposed to such substances by her mother.
“It trended yesterday that the police arrested an 11-year-old girl over drug allegations. Well, a one-sided story is not good. So today, (yesterday), the little girl and her mother were brought to the headquarters so we could hear from them. An 11-year-old girl is being used to buy and sell hard drugs. It’s sad.
“It is particularly troubling. My concern is that an 11-year-old girl could identify the drugs by name without reading from the packs. This is not right in any way,” he said.
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