Drug trafficking: Taming the menace largely responsible for national insecurity

Drug trafficking in Nigeria has been one phenomenon of concern which in itself bears strings of stormy social, economic and political impacts in the Country. The resonance of the proliferation of hard drugs into Nigeria recently has had its reflecting links on the profiles of the preponderance of social ills, manifesting in disturbing heights across the Country. The troubling spate of crime rate and inhumane escapades in Nigeria cannot be meaningfully argued not to have bearing links with the preponderance of drug abuse across the Country. The abuse of hard drugs in Nigeria among youths and adolescents is moving to the edge of breaking down the architectures of reason in the Country. The trend of abuse of drug is an exuberance which bears resonance with the sensations of criminality. Most recently, the records of domestic violence with gory narratives are relatively reflections of high cases of culprits acting heavily under the influence of hard drugs. It is an established fact that criminal tendencies find more expression under the influence of hard drugs; hence the reason crime-inclined persons and cliques are known to be custodians of hard drugs.

The necessity to curtail the troubling security threats ravaging the architectures of the Nigerian society is non-negotiable. In this light, giving an overarching approach to addressing these challenges cannot be over-emphasized. The significance of adopting strategic measures to address factors which directly and indirectly compound to instigate and engender criminality in the Country is sine qua non. In the reflection of this perspective, it becomes necessary for the Government not to take lightly the need to address the proliferation of hard drugs and its abuse in Nigeria. It is paramount that the Government strengthen all the relevant agencies to embark on forceful operations to clampdown on the dealers of hard drugs across the Country. It is imperative that loopholes being exploited to permeate the Country with hard drugs be blocked through proactive measures. The necessity to enhance security check architectures at every entry and exit point in and out of the Country is essential to track working lines of drug traffickers. Beefing up security architecture at every port, both sea and air, is critical towards ensuring that defective lacunas are no longer exploited to bring in and supply hard drugs into the Country.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had in a statement issued on Saturday disclosed that it intercepted one suspected drug trafficker, named Oluchukwu Onu, who excreted 86 wraps of cocaine. The agency disclosed that the suspect was intercepted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. According to the Head of Public Affairs of the agency, Deputy Commander of Narcotics, Mr Jonah Achema, the 39 year old trafficker was arrested during the outward clearance of India bound Ethiopian airline en route Abuja-Addis Ababa-New Delhi. The narrative of the account partly read: “Onu was intercepted at the boarding gate screening and referred for scanning where he proved positive for ingestion. He excreted 86 wraps of substances which tested positive of cocaine and weighed 1.527 kilogrammes. Onu, a Lagos based building materials dealer, said he was promised N1.5 million if he successful delivered the drugs to the recipient in New Delhi,  India.”

The Commander, NDLEA, Airport Command, Mr Kabir Tsakuwa, who said that investigation would be conducted to dismantle Onu’s drug trafficking network noted that: “This arrest is spectacular in that it is about the highest number of wraps to be swallowed or ingested by an individual. We have also discovered that this is the first case of anyone moving cocaine from here to India. We will explore and exploit all angles in ensuring that this particular drug chain is disrupted and dismantled.”

It was recently disclosed that coordinated operations of the NDLEA in late January led to huge seizures of cocaine and heroin, with street values worth over N30 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. One of the seizures to the tune of 26.840 kilograms of cocaine, is the biggest single seizure from an individual in the past 15 years, with a street value worth over N21 billion. Another seizure made on January 27, was one of cocaine weighed to be 8.400 Kilograms, with a street value of over N7 billion.

Another late January (24th) 2021 account was that of one Edosa Christopher who was arrested at the passengers screening point of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Upon subjection to body scan, the result proved positive for hard drugs ingestion. In the narrative, the anti-drug law enforcement agency stated, “The suspect was immediately transferred to NDLEA/JBTF office and placed on excretion observation. Subsequently, he excreted a total of 68 wraps of substance, which was tested and proved positive to heroin. It was also weighed 950 grams. During an interview, Edosa Christopher confessed to have bought the illicit substance at the cost of N800,000 from someone he referred to as ‘Paddy’.”

The impacts of hard drugs have begun to manisfest in various ways with the prevalence of various forms of crimes ranging from robbery, banditry, gangsterism, kidnapping, and cultism, among others. The relativity of the use of hard drugs to these criminal misadventures, among other forms of social deviances has been recorded to hold strong bearing links. Since perpetrators of various forms of crimes have been observed to act under the influence of hard drugs, it is essential that the Government clampdown heavily on the mobility of hard drugs and its use across the Country. This is important as a strategic tool to drastically reduce the prevalent rate of crime and insecurity in the Country.

It therefore behooves the Government to work on developing stronger security architectures to effectively and responsively track down the networks of drug trafficking in the Country. The direct and indirect impacts that the menace of drug abuse in the Country portends to the social fabrics, is threatening to national cohesion. Working to cut the supply lines and networks of drug trafficking is crucial as the Government strive under pressure to address the various arms of criminalities posing life threatening security challenges in the Country. It is imperative that prudent investment be made towards revitalising the security formations of the Government against drug trafficking by infusing and employing systemic networks, fortified with updated and modern apparatus which identifies and responsively blocks every loopholes and channels of drug trafficking into the Country. It is also imperative for attention to be given to venturing into public enlightenment campaign to expose the masses, particularly the youth to the dangers in the abuse of hard drugs and its trafficking.

It is germane that the Government allocates substantial resources to fund the campaign against the prevalence of hard drugs in the Country. Correctional centres to attend to drug addicts should be established across the Country to admit them for mental health attention, rather than leaving them helplessly to constitute threats to the society, thereby  breaching the profile of safety and security. The mental health of every society is key and holds strong bearings on its productivity and orderliness. The Government should appreciate this fact and move accordingly in action. The judicial architectures should further be strengthened to make room for expedited trial of Traffickers found guilty, and same should be given wide reportage to deter prospective traffickers from the menace.