By Kingston Magare
Deputy majority leader of the Nigerian senate, Oyelola Ashiru has denied allegations by the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency that he was caught in possession of hard drugs.
The NDLEA alleged during a media briefing Monday in Abuja that after a search of Senator Ashiru’s house in Ilorin, Kwara State, drugs were found and some of his aides arrested and prosecuted.
But according to a statement signed by Senator Ashiru’s legislative aide Olaitan Adeyanju the allegations are a falsehood manufactured by the NDLEA to smear Ashiru’s image.
“We find it preposterous and mere fishing for justification that NDLEA had to wait for the senator’s observation on the floor of the Senate before making its spurious allegations,” said the statement.
“As a matter of fact, Senator Ashiru never employed any aid bearing Ibrahim Mohammed and Mohammed Yahaya as bandied by NDLEA.
“The agency claimed that it operatives visited the senator’s Ilorin house and found nothing incriminating. The entire house was searched, and nothing incriminating was found. If any drugs were found on certain persons mentioned by the NDLEA, it is rational to ask at which court of law were the culprits charged?
“It is also important to state that Senator Ashiru has not sent any aide to the NDLEA to influence the dropping of drug allegations against anyone known as Tosin Odepidian. Indeed, all the names mentioned by the agency are strange, and none works directly or indirectly with Senator Ashiru.
“The NDLEA has the duty to take anyone suspected of drug dealing to court rather than name-calling and engaging in media trial.
“This clarification aims to set the record straight and address the misleading information circulated by the NDLEA.
“It is an open secret that many criminals, cultists, armed robbers and drug addicts find their way back into business after gratifying law enforcement officers. The NDLEA ought to search its house and fish out bad eggs rather than seeking cheap publicity!
“Senator Ashiru remains committed to serving the people of Kwara South and upholding the truth at all times in the search for strict professionalism among our law enforcement agencies.”
