Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), has said there will be no room for fifth columnists in the renewed war against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the country.
  
Marwa gave the warning, yesterday, in his remarks at the passing out ceremony of 2,500 cadets of Senior Officers Basic Course 16 at the NDLEA Academy, Jos Plateau State.  
   
While noting that the ceremony completed the addition of 5,000 personnel to the NDLEA workforce, the anti-drug tsar, who was represented at the ceremony by the Director Planning, Research and Statistics, Victoria Egbase, charged them to make their impact felt.
  
He said: “Within 30 years, the world of illicit drugs had become complex and more devastating to society, and the dynamics of the Nigerian drug situation had become direr. That was why the 2018 Drug Use Survey jolted Nigeria and raised the alarm on the inevitability of arresting the situation.”
  
In January 2021, NDLEA was reportedly handed a lifeline to rejig its structure and improve its systems to counter contemporary drug problems.Marwa added: “Today’s passing out ceremony, coming after months of rigorous training, is one of the manifestations of the ongoing restructuring in the agency.”  
  
“Having another batch of 5,000 officers to strengthen our workforce will assuredly give the needed impetus to the fight against the abuse and trafficking of illicit substances.”
  
While welcoming the new assistant superintendents of narcotics to the agency, Marwa said: “I assure you that you are coming into this organisation at an interesting time when reforms are being implemented and plans have been laid for the next phase of action to curb drug abuse and trafficking in Nigeria.
  
“I must prepare your minds for the task ahead of you. The duties are such that there is no room for compromising the ethics of your profession or subverting the goals of the organisation. In our renewed campaign against illicit drugs, we are at a stage of ramped-up interdiction against cannabis, opioids and other psychoactive substances. We cannot afford to decelerate our effort and we will not tolerate sabotage from within. What that means is that the injection of additional 5,000 officers must have an immediate and far-reaching impact on the campaign. In other words, everyone must make their effort count.”