I Mistook Cannabis For Isapa – Osun Traditional Ruler Caught By NDLEA

The Community Head of Akarabata town in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Ige Babatunde, who was recently arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has disclosed that he mistook cannabis plants for Isapa (Hibiscus sabdariffa).

The 50-year-old Babatunde was arrested by the NDLEA on July 5, 2024, for alleged possession of fresh cannabis plants weighing 5kg.

This was contained in a statement by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.

Babafemi said, “In Osun State, the head of Akarabata community in Ile-Ife, Ba’ale Ige Babatunde, 50, was on Friday, July 5 arrested with fresh cannabis plants that weighed 5kg.”

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But in a three-minute video sighted by OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday, Babatunde, a civil servant at Ife Central West LCDA, while speaking at the Osun NDLEA Command, Osogbo, said he thought the cannabis plants was Isapa (Hibiscus Sabdariffa), saying someone had called his attention to it.

He said: “I became the Baale of Akarabata town on June 3, 2023. I thought it was Isapa. I don’t know it was cannabis. It germinated naturally in the midst of the pepper I planted in front of my house. 

“I would have uprooted it if I knew it was cannabis. I’m a civil servant at Ife Central West. It’s been a year since I smoked weed last. I dropped it the time I became sick. I have never seen a fresh cannabis before.

“It became clear to me when the NDLEA officers came to arrest me. Someone has called my attention to it sometimes that it was cannabis but I disagreed with him. I told him it was Isapa. I was shocked when the NDLEA told me it’s cannabis.”