The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has urged its officers to remain resilient against illicit drugs, describing the fight as a generational responsibility at an awards ceremony in Abuja.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd.), made the call while honouring 274 personnel for outstanding performance.
The 12th Chairman/Chief Executive Officer’s Commendations and Awards ceremony also recognised 18 best-performing commands and 19 non-governmental organisations and media organisations for their contributions to Nigeria’s campaign against drug abuse.
Marwa said the drug challenge would continue to evolve as trafficking networks seek new routes and methods after enforcement operations.
“The war against illicit drugs is not a campaign with an end date. It is a generational responsibility,” he said.
“For every cartel we dismantle, intelligence tells us another will attempt to rise. For every corridor we shut down, traffickers will search for another route,” he stated.
He said the persistent nature of drug trafficking required sustained commitment from the NDLEA and its partners.
Marwa also stressed that enforcement alone could not defeat drug trafficking and substance abuse.
The NDLEA chief said civil society organisations play an important role in preventing addiction and supporting vulnerable young people within communities.
He also credited journalists with bringing public attention to trafficking routes, rehabilitation and families rebuilding their lives after addiction.
“The fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse was never going to be won by enforcement alone,” Marwa said.
He described civil society and media organisations as having a multiplier effect on the agency’s work by taking anti-drug messages into homes, schools and communities.
Marwa cited several recent operations as examples of the agency’s approach to combating drug trafficking, including the dismantling of the Amadi Simon drug cartel and the takedown of two Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine cartels operating in forests in Ogun and Oyo states.
He also cited the disruption of a tramadol cartel operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor, saying the route had for years contributed to opioid abuse among Nigerian youths.
“These were not simple raids. They were the product of patient intelligence-gathering, cross-border cooperation, and officers willing to go where the criminals believed no one would follow,” he said.
Marwa urged NDLEA officers to regard the award recipients as standards to emulate rather than limits to their own performance and called on civil society groups and media organisations to see the recognition as an invitation to deepen their efforts against drug abuse.
He congratulated all recipients and thanked Nigerians for continuing to place their trust in the agency as it confronts the country’s persistent drug trafficking and substance abuse challenge.
