The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig-Gen Buba Marwa, on Saturday, said the agency recovered over N90bn worth of illicit drugs and cash from suspected drug traffickers from January to May 2021.
Marwa also disclosed that over 5,000 persons had been arrested for drug-related offences while the agency had secured more than 500 convictions within the period.
He said it was important to awaken the consciousness of all Nigerians on the urgent need for them to support the NDLEA in its effort to save the country from the menace of abuse and trafficking of illicit substances to safeguard the future of Nigeria.
The former military administrator stated these in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the public presentation of a book, ‘Victory in Defeat’, written by Brig Gen Larinde Laoye (retd).
He said leaders at all levels “must attach some urgency to the need to rid our society of the drug menace”.
“Our record at the NDLEA in the first five months of this year calls for sober reflection: over 5, 000 arrests; over 3,000 charged to court with more than 500 convictions, 2, 772 individuals were counselled and treated for drug-related problems. More than two million kilograms of assorted drugs were seized and over N90bn worth of drugs and cash recovered. These statistics are alarming and are red flags about the need to safeguard the future of the young generation,” a statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, of the agency, Femi Babafemi, quoted Marwa as saying.
The NDLEA chairman further called on all leaders and stakeholders across the country to see the urgent need to rid Nigeria of what he described as a “drug scourge”.
