The chairman/chief executive of the National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier General Buba Marwa (rtd), said illicit drugs worth over N80billion, weighing about two million kilograms have been seized by the agency in his first 100 days in office.
Marwa, who clocked 100 days in office as chairman/CE of NDLEA stated this when the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba visited the headquarters of the NDLEA in Abuja on Wednesday.
The NDLEA boss also revealed that 15 million Nigerians use illicit drugs and it’s one of the reasons insecurity has been on the increase.
It would be recalled that the former military governor of Lagos State had said: “Insurgence, kidnapping and banditry are peculiar to some certain parts of the country, but drug abuse is universal. It has no boundary and no respect for ethnicity or religion.
“The menace is worrisome. If access to drugs is prevented, criminality can be reduced by 50 per cent in the country.”
While assuring the police of adequate partnership and collaboration, Marwa said the Nigeria Police have received immense commendations outside Nigeria and he believes that with proper motivation and equipment, the officers will come out the best.
On the insecurity in the country, the NDLEA boss said it is a difficult time for Nigerians generally and the police in particular but expressed optimism that the new IGP of police was equal to the task.
He called on the Nigeria Police to assist the agency in the areas of training, facilities and intelligence sharing since the police is well equipped in the areas.
Earlier, the inspector-general of police had asked for the collaboration of the NDLEA in tackling drug menace in the country.
The IGP also assured the NDLEA of police readiness to assist in any way in order to ensure that drug abuse was tackled
