• Agency arrests 52,901 drug traffickers, convicts 9,000
• Ramps up plans for farmers to grow cash crops

President Bola Tinubu has assured the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of his administration’s support in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking, as well as its efforts to prevent Nigerians from falling prey to the drug scourge.
 
Tinubu gave the assurance on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, known as World Drug Day, yesterday, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.  
 

Speaking on the theme of the programme, ‘The Evidence is Clear: Invest in Prevention’, the President, represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, said: “I enjoin all and sundry to support the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, launched by NDLEA three years ago. I commend and urge everyone to redouble their efforts to combat drug abuse and trafficking in the country.
 
“On this score, I wish to reassure you of this administration’s support. The Renewed Hope Agenda places the youth at the centre of its focus. Therefore, we will ensure that our young people are protected from anything that could derail their future or destroy their potential.”
 
In his welcome remark, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig-Gen Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) said the ‘Save Our Families’ social campaign launched at the ceremony was designed to prevent and tackle drug use through early detection and intervention by making the agency’s new special drug test kits a necessity in every home, school and workplace.
 
He said: “The agency has introduced the Drug Integrity Test initiative anticipated to metamorphose into an anti-drug culture for every Nigerian. The test is intended for secondary school pupils, students seeking admission into tertiary institutions and returning students, workers in government and private offices and individuals seeking political offices, as well as prospective couples before taking their marriage vows.
 
“The drug test will serve as a tool for the prevention of drug use and early detection of the individual’s status of drug use for appropriate intervention including treatment and rehabilitation. Let me also add that our drug integrity test adopted by some government and tertiary institutions in the country, is a preventive mechanism.”
 
According to him, the agency has, so far, arrested 52,901 drug traffickers, including 48 barons, and obtained over 9,000 convictions of suspects in the last three years.

Reeling out the achievements of the anti-drug agency under his supervision in the last three years, Marwa said NDLEA’s actions resulted in the seizure of over 7.6 million kilogrammes of assorted illicit substances, such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis among others.
 
NDLEA also launched an offensive operation targeting cannabis farms at the source, saying the effort led to the destruction of about 1,057 hectares of cannabis farms in the past three years. 
 
He, however, disclosed that NDLEA was also planning an alternative development programme to persuade cannabis farmers to grow cash crops instead, with incentives attached.
 
While noting that the programme was crucial, Marwa said the 2018 national drug use survey revealed that 10.6 million Nigerians aged 15 to 64 abused cannabis, out of 14.3 million drug abusers.
  
NDLEA’s efforts, The Guardian gathered, have been recognised by international partners, including the European Union (EU), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United States Drug Enforcement Administration (US-DEA), among others.
 
The agency’s collaboration with foreign law enforcement agencies has led to the arrest and prosecution of Nigerian drug traffickers abroad.
 

Its drug demand reduction efforts also yielded significant results, with over 33,453 individuals counselled, treated and rehabilitated in NDLEA’s 30 rehabilitation centres nationwide.
 
Outgoing UNODC Country Representative, Dr Oliver Stolpe, said: “After the exceptionally successful testing of the school-based drug prevention programme, UNPLUGGED, involving half a million secondary school children in Nigeria, the programme should be rolled out to all 28,000 public and private secondary schools.
 
“We need to enhance the resilience against drug use among the millions of out-of-school children, for example, through sports-based initiatives such as Line Up Live Up (LULU). Further, we need to strengthen families in their ability to recognise and address drug use in effective and constructive ways.”
  
Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, who emphasised the importance of testing in schools, expressed the ministry’s support for NDLEA drug test campaign while calling on government agencies “to work together and support all these efforts.”