The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) reports that in the last 29 months, it has apprehended 31,675 drug offenders and prosecuted 5,147 of them.
During the same time period, the Anti-narcotics Agency seized nearly 6.3 million kg of various drugs from traffickers.
The Agency’s Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, made the announcement on Monday in Abuja during a joint news conference with the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr Oliver Stolpe.
The briefing was intended to kick off a week-long celebration of the 2023 World Drug Day, which is an annual event designed to mobilize resources, align policies, and inspire organizations, communities, and nations to work together to effectively address the challenges of illicit substances in society.
According to the NDLEA chief, who was represented by the Agency’s Secretary Mr Shadrach Haruna, this year’s theme, People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention, is in furtherance of the whole-of-society strategy to taming the drug pandemic.
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 emphasised that drug supply reduction is however only one of the components of the equation.
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.
At the briefing, Mr. Oliver Stolpe, the UNODC Country Representative, stressed the importance of international collaboration in criminal justice concerns, with a specific goal of disrupting trafficking networks involved in the heinous trade.
He praised the NDLEA for its achievements in the fight against substance addiction and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria.
