The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, said it will intensify its fight against illicit drugs, saying harder times await anyone caught in the battle.
Secretary of the agency, Mr Shadrach Haruna, who represented the Chairman of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) assured that NDLEA would go after anyone who peddles drugs, who he described as a ‘merchant of death.’
He spoke on the sidelines of the 3rd Annual Lecture Series on Drugs organised by the leadership of the National Assembly and the National Association of Nigerian Drug Monitoring (NANDRUM), in Abuja where they commended NDLEA for the fight against the drug menace in the country.
Haruna acknowledged the challenges of tackling drug trafficking but said the battle would be further intensified even as drug trafficking act as a catalyst to terrorism, banditry and other forms of criminalities.
“We all know that drug abuse has been a challenge in this country and it’s a scourge to many homes. We have seen an increase in banditry, terrorism and all manner of violent crimes and societal vices in the country, and they are associated with drug and substance abuse. What NDLEA is committed to doing is to free Nigeria and Nigerians from the problems of drug and substance abuse,” he said.
Reacting to questions on the involvement of privileged persons in society in drug peddling, the NDLEA Secretary explained that “they are the cartels that have been the focus of arrest by NDLEA in recent times.”
He said: “The elite are the drug barons and drug cartels, and if you follow the news recently, you will discover that NDLEA has about twenty drug barons in their net.”
He stated that several drug barons have been arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned with their properties forfeited.
“They have a lot of property and so many chieftaincy titles in the society but we don’t give a damn because if you have committed a crime, you have to answer for it. And many of them are going down,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Senate President, Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, represented at the occasion by the Deputy Leader of the Senator Ajayi Borofice, and the Chairman of the House Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, praised the NDLEA boss for his feat in the agency.
The theme of the lecture, which was held at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, midweek, is “Drug and Narcotic Substance Abuse: Overcoming the Challenges.”