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A 31 year old Senior Secondary School 11 drop out, Mary Donejay has narrated how her ex- convict boyfriend, Henry Daniel, lured her into the Indian hemp business in Ondo state with a promise to finance their wedding with the proceeds, Vanguard Newspaper reports.

Both suspects were arrested alongside 11 others by operatives the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ondo State Command during the
destruction of 255 hectares of cannabis farms in five council areas in the state said to worth N900m.

The operation was led by the NDLEA Deputy Director Strike Force, Mr Nnadi Chidi destroyed 255 hectares of cannabis across the state.

The suspects were arrested during the operations in conjunction with the agency’s special strike force operatives from Ondo, Edo, Osun, Oyo and Ekiti States.

Also seized include 250 kg of cannabis seeds, 63.85kg of cannabis weed, 20.85kgs of dried Cannabis, two irrigation water pump machines and over 1,500 metres hose during the operations.

In an interview, the bar attendant, Mary Donejay said “I met Henry Daniel in Oba-ile where I was working in a restaurant.”

“He proposed to me after some months of dating him. I was really hopeful for a blissful marital life.”

“He told me that he was an ex-convict that deals in ‘Igbo’, business. He told me to join him to harvest of cannabis together and get married, promising, that he will open a provision shop for me and as a Senior Secondary School 2 drop out, I saw it as a good deal for me.”

“The idea made me happy because I have two children from another man who are with my mother at the moment. All I do for Daniel is to cook here in the forest.”

“We were informed that the NDLEA guys were around. But before I could run away, they had already rounded me up, but my fiancee bolted leaving me behind.”

“I have seen him selling Cannabis to people on two occasions, but I never asked how much he sold the stuff,” she explained.

The Agencys Deputy Director Strike Force, Mr Nnadi Chidi said “We found her on a quarterly harvested 10 hectares of Cannabis farm land at Ogbese Government forest reserve with 16.5kg of Cannabis Sativa.

“All the suspects will be charged to court after investigation has been carried out,”

Nnadi said that the Ondo state command of the agency received information regarding large irrigated cannabis cultivation spread across five local government areas of the State and this prompted the deployment of the Strike Force unit and officers from Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, Oyo and Osun state commands for total destruction of the illicit cultivation of the plant.

According to the team leader, “the goal of the irrigated weed farming by the cultivators was to maintain supply to drug users throughout the year.”

He assured that the Strike force would sustain the war against cannabis cultivation,adding that there would be no safe haven for cultivators in Nigeria.

“Destroying cannabis at its nursery and infant stages will greatly cut supply, save lives and reduce crime rates in the country,” Chidi assured