By Olayemi Esan
At 101 years old, Esther Ogunmabo should ordinarily be surrounded by the quiet rhythms of old age — family visits, memories spanning more than a century and the comfort of being a great-grandmother.
Instead, the centenarian found herself at the centre of one of the most bizarre drug-related arrests in recent Nigerian history.
On Saturday, August 15, 2026, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested Ogunmabo in Ilisan, Ogun State, allegedly with retail sachets of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 90 grams.
The image of a 101-year-old woman being arrested for allegedly dealing in illicit drugs is as startling as it is unsettling. In a country where the war against narcotics is often associated with young traffickers, international cartels, couriers and criminal networks, the arrest of a centenarian presents a bizarre and deeply human dimension to Nigeria’s drug problem.
According to the NDLEA, Ogunmabo claimed that she turned to the illicit drug trade after her provisions shop was destroyed by fire.
She reportedly told investigators that one of her daughters, who lives in Lagos, arranged the supply of the substance every four days, while she allegedly sold it in small quantities to people within her community.
For an agency accustomed to intercepting tonnes of narcotics and dismantling organised drug networks, the discovery of 90 grams of cannabis allegedly being retailed by a 101-year-old great-grandmother was an extraordinary development.
But behind the bizarre circumstances lies a more complex story.
A Crime Story With A Human Face
The allegation against Ogunmabo is not merely about the quantity of cannabis recovered or the age of the suspect. It raises uncomfortable questions about poverty, vulnerability, family influence and the circumstances that can push even the oldest members of society towards unlawful activity.
If her account of losing her means of livelihood to a fire is accurate, the tragedy is not only that a centenarian allegedly entered the illicit drug trade. The greater tragedy may be that, at 101, she reportedly found herself without sufficient protection from the economic hardship that followed.
Her story illustrates how drug crimes do not always begin with sophisticated criminal ambition.
Sometimes, they emerge at the intersection of desperation and opportunity.
The alleged involvement of her daughter in the supply chain adds another troubling dimension. The same family structure expected to provide care and protection to an elderly woman may, according to the NDLEA investigation, have become part of the circumstances surrounding her alleged involvement in the drug trade.
That development has shifted attention from the centenarian herself to the wider network responsible for allegedly supplying the substance.
NDLEA Chooses Compassion Alongside Enforcement
Recognising the exceptional circumstances of the case, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), directed that Ogunmabo be granted bail and placed on counselling because of her advanced age.
Her daughter, however, has been arrested as investigations continue.
The decision reflects a delicate balance between law enforcement and humanitarian considerations.
The NDLEA has repeatedly maintained a strong posture against drug trafficking and abuse, but the treatment of the 101-year-old suspect demonstrates that enforcement is not always a one-dimensional exercise.
In this case, the agency is confronted with a suspect whose age alone makes her circumstances extraordinary.
A 101-year-old woman may be old enough to remember colonial Nigeria, the country’s independence and generations of social transformation. Yet, according to the NDLEA, she allegedly became involved in a criminal trade that remains one of the country’s most persistent contemporary security and public health challenges.
It is this contradiction that makes the case so bizarre.
From Fufu To Cocaine
The arrest of Ogunmabo was only one of several remarkable breakthroughs recorded by the NDLEA across Nigeria’s land and maritime borders.
In the same wave of operations, the agency intercepted cocaine concealed in edible cassava flour popularly known as fufu, while also seizing large consignments of Loud, a potent synthetic cannabis, valued at more than N4.4 billion at the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos.
Together, the seizures reveal the increasingly creative and sophisticated methods being deployed by drug traffickers.
While a 101-year-old woman allegedly retailed cannabis in a quiet Ogun community, criminal networks were simultaneously attempting to conceal cocaine inside a common Nigerian food product and move high-value synthetic cannabis through major ports.
The contrast is striking.
At one end of the drug economy is the alleged small-scale retail trader operating from a local community. At the other are sophisticated networks capable of concealing narcotics in everyday commodities and moving massive consignments through international trade routes.
Yet both ends of the chain feed the same illicit market.
Beyond The Bizarre Headlines
The story of Esther Ogunmabo will inevitably generate shock, humour and disbelief.
A 101-year-old great-grandmother arrested over cannabis is the kind of headline that instantly captures public attention.
But beyond the bizarre nature of the arrest lies a serious national conversation.
What happens when an elderly person loses a livelihood and becomes economically vulnerable? Who bears responsibility when relatives allegedly draw such a person into criminal activity? Can counselling and rehabilitation address the underlying social and economic conditions that lead to drug-related offences?
The NDLEA’s response suggests that these questions cannot be ignored.
While the agency must continue to enforce the law, the Ogunmabo case demonstrates that the war against drugs also requires an understanding of the social circumstances surrounding those caught within the illicit economy.
For Nigeria, the image remains difficult to forget: a woman who has lived for more than a century allegedly selling cannabis in retail sachets after losing her shop to fire.
It is bizarre.
It is startling.
But above all, it is a reminder that the country’s drug crisis can reach into the most unexpected places — across borders and seaports, inside food products, through international trafficking networks and, in this extraordinary case, into the life of a 101-year-old great-grandmother.
As the NDLEA continues its investigation, the arrest of Esther Ogunmabo will likely stand as one of the most unusual episodes in Nigeria’s ongoing campaign against illicit drugs — a story where the bizarre meets the tragic, and where law enforcement intersects with the unmistakably human face of desperation.
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