The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), has urged officers and men of the agency to remain resilient, saying the fight against illicit drugs is a generational responsibility that requires sustained commitment.
   
Marwa gave the charge yesterday in Abuja at the 12th Chairman/Chief Executive Officer’s Commendation and Awards ceremony, where 274 personnel, 18 commands and 19 civil society and media organisations were recognised for their contributions to the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
   
He said the persistent and evolving nature of the drug problem meant that the NDLEA could not afford to relent in its efforts, adding that the war against illicit drugs is not a campaign with an end date but a generational responsibility.
   
“For every cartel we dismantle, intelligence tells us another will attempt to rise. For every corridor we shut down, traffickers will search for another route,” he said.
  
He noted that the fight could not be won through enforcement alone, stressing the importance of the contributions of civil society organisations and the media in preventing drug abuse and supporting affected communities.
 
According to him, NGOs play a crucial role in communities by helping young people to avoid or overcome substance abuse, while journalists have continued to expose the realities of drug trafficking, rehabilitation and the struggles of families affected by addiction.
   
The fight “is won in the communities where NGOs quietly walk young people back from the edge of addiction. It is won in the newsrooms where journalists choose to tell the difficult stories,” Marwa said.
   
He added that civil society groups and the media had become a “multiplier effect” for the agency’s efforts by taking anti-drug messages into homes, schools and communities that government enforcement agencies could not reach alone.
   
Marwa said the awards were not intended to suggest that those recognised were the only individuals or organisations contributing to the campaign, describing the ceremony as “the beginning of a tradition, not a closed chapter.”
   
Highlighting some of the agency’s recent operations, Marwa cited the dismantling of the Amadi Simon drug cartel, the disruption of two Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine cartels operating in forests in Ogun and Oyo states, and the dismantling of a tramadol cartel operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
   
In the meantime, Chairman of the Kano State Multi-Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and Trafficking, Muhyi Magaji Gado, has warned that anyone involved in illicit trade will face the full wrath of the law in line with the state’s Executive Orders, stating that there would be no sacred cows in the ongoing war against drug abuse and trafficking.
   
He made the declaration during a live radio programme in Kano, saying the taskforce had already taken several drug-related patients to the Kiru Reformative Centre as part of efforts to rehabilitate victims of substance abuse and restore them to productive lives.
   
He also revealed that several suspects had been charged in court for alleged drug-related offences, while some drug stores had been sealed for violating regulations governing the sale, handling and storage of drugs.
   
According to him, the task force will broaden its engagement with critical segments of society, including religious scholars, traditional rulers, civil society organisations, market associations and other stakeholders, as part of a comprehensive strategy to confront the menace.