By Felix Olukayode
At 101, Esther Ogunmabo should have been an unlikely suspect in Nigeria’s drug war. Yet on August 15, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested the great-grandmother in Ilisan, Ogun State, with 90 grammes of skunk packaged in retail sachets. Her arrest has drawn attention to a disturbing pattern: increasingly, elderly Nigerians are turning up in the agency’s drug arrests. NDLEA data indicate that at least 32 suspects aged between 60 and 101 have been arrested nationwide since January.
Ogunmabo is not an isolated case. In June, NDLEA arrested 67-year-old Nigerian-British caregiver Mary Yetunde Barek at Lagos airport after allegedly finding 13kg of cocaine concealed in plantain peels in her luggage. In March, 80-year-old Oke Samuel was arrested in Ekiti with 2.2kg of skunk and methamphetamine. The agency has also reported other elderly suspects in possession of substantial quantities of illicit drugs. The cases raise a troubling question: are older Nigerians increasingly being recruited as couriers and street-level dealers because they attract less suspicion, or are some simply being driven into the illicit trade by economic hardship?
The answer may be a combination of both. Ogunmabo reportedly told investigators that she entered the drug trade after a fire destroyed her provisions shop and that a daughter in Lagos supplied her with the substance every four days, which she then sold in small quantities. Her account points to economic desperation, while the alleged supply arrangement raises questions about whether vulnerable elderly people are being used by others. But the evidence does not support treating every elderly suspect as a victim; Barek, for instance, was reported by NDLEA to have admitted ownership of the cocaine allegedly recovered from her luggage.
The emerging pattern also presents a new challenge for law enforcement. Drug networks, if they deliberately use older people, may be exploiting the assumption that age makes someone an unlikely trafficker. At the same time, the cases expose the vulnerability of elderly Nigerians who lack reliable income, savings or family support. The issue, therefore, goes beyond arrests: it touches on social protection, family responsibility and the ability of criminal networks to exploit economic hardship.
For Nigeria, the warning is clear. The elderly cannot be treated as automatically innocent because of their age, but neither should their involvement in the drug trade be viewed only through the lens of punishment. Ogunmabo’s release on bail and counselling following her arrest reflects the NDLEA’s consideration of her advanced age, while her alleged supplier was also arrested. The growing number of elderly suspects should prompt a broader response—one that combines tougher action against those who recruit vulnerable people with stronger social protection for the elderly. Otherwise, Nigeria’s drug war may be confronting not just a new generation of traffickers, but an increasingly desperate generation of grandparents.