Nigeria’s Anti-graft Agency, the National Drugs Laws Enforcement Agency NDLEA says it has arrested 31,675 drug offenders and prosecuted 5, 147 of them in the last 29 months of its operations.
The Anti-narcotic Agency has also, seized over 6.3 million kilograms of assorted drugs from traffickers within the same period.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Agency retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa disclosed this in Abuja on Monday at a joint press briefing with the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Mr Oliver Stolpe.
The briefing was to flag off week-long activities marking the 2023 World Drug Day, which is an annual event to mobilise resources, align policies, and inspire organisations, communities, and nations to work in a particular direction to effectively tackle the challenges of illicit substances in society.
Represented by the Agency’s Secretary Mr Shadrach Haruna, the NDLEA boss said, this year’s theme, People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention, is in furtherance of the whole-of-society approach to taming the drug scourge.
Drug war: 31,675 arrested; 5,147 convicted; 6.3m kg drugs seized in 29 months Marwa
. As NDLEA, UNODC flag off activities marking 2023 World Drug Day pic.twitter.com/66I2Dc5dq7
— NDLEA NIGERIA (@ndlea_nigeria) June 19, 2023
He said: “This theme is especially pertinent to the Nigerian situation at the moment. In the past two and half years, we have strengthened our law enforcement efforts to cut down on the supply of drugs in society.”
Marwa said, over 11,000 cases are still pending in court, while 23,725 drug users had been counselled and rehabilitated, the majority of them through brief interventions.
“We have destroyed 852.142 hectares of cannabis farms and dismantled three clandestine methamphetamine laboratories. I can assure you that even as we speak, NDLEA agents are busy with interdiction activities somewhere.”
Marwa emphasized that drug supply reduction is however only one of the components of the equation.
“Another crucial component is drug demand reduction, which operationally means prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. It should go without saying that we must strike a balance between these two crucial components if we are to achieve our desired utopia of a drug-free society.”
He charged that society to drop stigmatization that discourages drug users from seeking treatment, a development that has serious socio-economic repercussions for individuals and their families.
Marwa expressed appreciation for the partnership between NDLEA, NGOs, development partners, and the various groups, institutions, and relevant professionals in society, including media professionals, who have been very supportive of the renewed war on drugs.
Also at the briefing, the UNODC Country Representative, Mr. Oliver Stolpe emphasized the benefits of international cooperation in criminal justice matters with a specific target of dismantling trafficking networks involved in the terrible trade.
Stolpe said: “It is long overdue is the need to make sure that the public and primary health care providers are better prepared to take basic drug counselling needs, knowing how to deal with people suffering from drug use disorders.”
He commended NDLEA for the successes recorded so far in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria.
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