By Oluwadara Akingbohungbe
The Senate Committee on Drugs and Narcotics has commended the leadership of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for its unrelenting war against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking, assuring of its preparedness and commitment to partner and support the agency to succeed in its onerous task of ridding Nigeria of the drug menace.
The assurance was given after the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) briefed the Committee on the activities, challenges and achievements of the agency in the last 34 months at the National Assembly complex, Abuja.
While briefing the committee on Tuesday 7th November, Marwa said the global supply and demand of illicit drugs, including opioids and synthetic drugs has exacerbated the world drug problem, with devastating impact on people and their well-being across borders and continents.
According to him, “Families, communities, young people and old men and women and indeed the very fabric of our society is daily being destroyed by drug abuse.” He added that the scourge is at the basis of the security challenges facing not only Nigeria but other nations and as such, no effort must be spared in addressing the problem.
Speaking on some of its achievements in the areas of drug demand reduction and drug supply reduction, Marwa said “The agency re-ignited its intelligence-based enforcement capabilities, focusing on drug barons and cartels, with a view to cutting off supplies and taking illicit drugs away from our streets.
