Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been accused of extra-judicially killing a 43-year-old man, Charles Anderson, at Canal Village, Lakeview Estate in the Amuwo area of Lagos.
The accusation is coming from the father of the deceased, 79-year-old Pa Eyi Anderson, who said the operatives stormed his house on March 7, 2023 to effect the deceased’s arrest.
Charles was allegedly into sales of marijuana and other hard drugs.
Pa Eyi, while narrating how Charles was killed, said he was outside with his wife around 11 pm on that fateful day when a group of people marched towards their son’s apartment.
The bereaved father said three of the operatives stood at Charles’ doorpost while others were smoking Indian hemp.
His words, “All of a sudden, I heard a noise from my son’s apartment. He ran out, and they pursued him and shot him at the jetty by the building. He slumped and fell into the river. That was when I knew they were NDLEA officials from their uniforms. I could not go to struggle with them even though I am a retired military man, who fought during the civil war.
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“At that point, I took my wife inside. For two hours, the NDLEA officials searched my son’s apartment but found nothing incriminating. While they were leaving, they arrested Charles’ wife and my other son, Dallas. They took them to Raji Rasaki Estate, where they parked their vehicles.
“But Dallas was released when they did not find anything on him, while they went away with Charles’ wife. They detained her in their Gbagada office for two weeks and demanded N3 million for her release. But we ended up not paying a dime when they were told Charles was dead.”
He said the deceased’s bloated body was recovered three days after the incident happened.
The Bayelsa State-born septuagenarian confirmed that the deceased was into illicit drug business and had cautioned him severally to stop.
He said, “He (Charles) sold Igbo (marijuana) and not cocaine. I was not happy with what he was doing and I told him severally to stop. Most times NDLEA officials would come, he would settle them. He used to give them between N150,000 and N2 million. Sometimes, they (operatives) would go away with his power-generating set. At other times, they would go with him and later release him.
“I demand justice for my son. He did not deserve to die that way. They should have arrested him, charged him to court and make him face the consequences of his sin, lawfully, instead of killing him.”