The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA Command in Nasarawa State says it has seized 4, 257, 831 kilograms of illicit drugs in the state from June-2022-June-2023.
Nasarawa State Commander of NDLEA, Mr. Peter Onche-Odaudu, stated this at an event to commemorate the 2023 United Nations, International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Lafia, the state capital.
The Nasarawa State Commander gave the breakdown to include, 4, 152.755 kg of cannabis sativa, 84.065kg of cough syrup with codeine, 0.698kg of methamphetamine, and 0.017kg of cocaine.
He also explained that 102 suspects were arrested out of which 18 are female and 84 male.
“53 of the suspects were convicted by the Federal High Court Lafia and serving various jail terms with other cases still currently going on.
“We have rehabilitated nine drug addicts in our facility in Lafia and offered counseling intervention to 397 suspects and users without taking them to custody for prosecution,” the Commander noted.
Mr. Onche-Odaudu attributed the successes recorded to the effort of their staff across the state and the support and collaboration of the stakeholders and urged that the tempo should be sustained.
He further disclosed that Nasarawa State is currently in second position in drug abuse prevalence rate in the North-Central Geo-Political Zone.
He said that the command would not relent until it change the narrative to positive and make it one of the safest in terms of drugs.
He expressed gratitude to Buba Marwa, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA for creating an enabling environment for them to function and to Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State and other stakeholders for their support in the fight against Illicit drugs.
The NDLEA boss in the state however listed some challenges confronting the command including; paucity of funds, inadequate operational vehicles, and unwillingness of the public to volunteer information about drug dealers among others.
He said that despite the challenges, the personnel at the command are willing to tackle drug trafficking in the state.
“The threat from the rampaging drug monster of drug abuse and illicit trafficking is real and unless all work assiduously, the future of the youths will be mortgaged.
“The war against Drugs is everybody’s war and not that of NDLEA alone, therefore, invite and sundry to join us to reverse the negative testimony concerning the state,” he added.
The event had in attendance Heads of other Security agencies in the state, and students from various secondary schools in Lafia among others.
Confidence Okwuchi
