Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

Ola Ajayi, Ibadan

An attempt by a 60-year-old man to give hard drugs to his detained son who has been declared wanted by London’s Metropolitan Police has been scuttled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Ibadan zonal office.

The man, Muyiwa Otulayo who is a fish-farmer, had visited his son who is in the EFCC custody for alleged fraudulent practices when he attempted to smuggle the hard drugs for him.

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According to the anti-graft commission, the older Otuyalo was at the premises of the EFCC in Ibadan on Monday, February 17, 2020, supposedly to visit his son. But while discussing with the son, an officer noticed that he brought out a sachet of tablets and handed same to him. The officer subsequently raised an alarm which led to the confiscation of the drug.

When the in-house nurse was called upon for assessment of the content, it was revealed that the said item was Rohypnol, a tranquilizer used under strict prescription for treatment of severe insomnia and assist in anesthesia.

The drug is said to possess high sedative effect and is rarely used except when prescribed by licensed medical officers.

The younger Otuyalo was recently arrested after a criminal case of money laundering detected in the United Kingdom was reported against him. The case which involved £45,000 was a fragment of a wider one involving about £500,000 for which he has been declared wanted by the London Metropolitan Police.

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He has been on the wanted list of the International Police, Interpol before the petition was filed at the EFCC, Ibadan zonal office.

Officers of the Nigerian Interpol were already in contact with the commission in respect of the said case before the suspect’s father attempted to smuggle in the hard drug for him.

Further investigations are ongoing, even as the commission intends to hand him over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for possible prosecution of the suspected narcotic case.

Vanguard News