Anambra monarch reacts reported drugs in his palace

 

ONITSHA, Anambra –  A traditional ruler in Anambra state who was allegedly linked  by the National Drug Law Enforce Agency (NDLEA) with discovery of drugs in his palace has  said that he is not aware  that any   agency has recovered drugs from his palace.

The NDLEA which did not name the monarch said that 58.5 grammes of cocaine and 13.9 grammes of heroin were recovered from the undisclosed palace.

However, the traditional ruler who was reacting to the report that cocaine and heroine   were discovered in his palace said he is not  aware of any such development  .

“I’m sorry that I am not aware of all these issues” he said.  Recall that on Thursday many  media houses reported that  NDLEA in Anambra State have uncovered various quantities of cocaine and heroin stashed in the palace of unnamed Traditional   ruler in the state.

However ,a  sources close to the palace   described the news  as laughable and misleading . The source who never wanted his name on print said the cocaine in the palace were not discovered because the traditional ruler  invited the  National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA to come over and evacuate those drugs his men seized from users.

According the source , the monarch  complimented the efforts of  the agency in getting ride of drugs abuse in the state, especially his community .

“Our traditional ruler only assisted the agency in  sanitising and mopping up of   drugs in the town from illegal users. In the history of our traditional ruler he has no record of involvement  in drugs business or dubious business transition.

The Igwe as the traditional ruler and  the chief security officer  in the town ,he took it upon himself to fight drugs abuse to compliment NDLEA  fight against illicit drugs  in the state” he said. According to him, our traditional ruler  officially  wrote a letter to NDLEA’s  command in Awka asking them to come  over to  evacuate the drugs seized by his security men.

“We are surprised to read that cocaine and heroine were discovered in the palace of our traditional ruler” he said. Also a source close to  NDLEA in Awka  Anambra state also  debunked that drugs were discovered in the palace  of  the traditional  ruler .

The source who   spoke on condition of  anonymity   for security reason said those cocaine and heroine  in the palace were the ones  seized by  the palace security men  as part of the traditional ruler efforts  in assisting the agency  in the fight against  illegal drugs in the state .

“The said  drugs in the  palace were those seized by his men and kept in his palace for the NDLEA to come and  evacuate them” the source said . The source further confirmed that the traditional ruler had earlier written to NDLEA asking the agency  to come and evacuate the drugs  seized from ilegal users in the town  .

“What the NDLEA  did was to go there  and evacuate  the drugs and nothing more ” he said . Also findings  by  our reporter ,shows that the drugs  in the palace  did not belong to the traditional ruler  but drugs seized by the traditional ruler’s security men. The finding also confirmed that the monarch   wrote to NDLEA inviting them to come over and evacuate drugs seized from illegal drug users in the town .

We gathered that the drugs were not found in the Igwe palace but the Igwe actually organized a raid operation to sanitize his domain.  According to  the letter  obtained  by our reporter  which was signed by the palace secretary,  the Monarch invited  the  NDLEA to come and evacuate those drugs seized from drug users.

The letter read in parts “His Majesty has promptly reported this seizure of hard drugs to you personally though timing for the handover of caches of drugs has been checkered ,however ,we do expect  that today being the 3rd of March 2021,we shall handover to your men who will receive and  sign .

We hereby ask  for your cooperation in sanitising our kingdom of hard drugs with the cooperation of our ever ready operatives” . When contacted the commander of Anambra state command ,Mohammed Idris  said that he cannot comment on the matter since it is before his superior  in Abuja, noting that whoever wants clarification should contact the  headquarters.