Nigeria canvasses collaboration among African nations to win drug war

• Nation sitting on key of gunpowder three years ago, says Marwa

Nigeria has called for seamless exchange of intelligence and strengthened collaboration among African nations to successfully tackle drug trafficking and abuse on the continent.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), made the call at the ongoing 30th Conference of Heads of Drug Law Enforcement Agencies Africa (HONLEA) in Nairobi, Kenya.

It was learnt that his stance was widely supported. While briefing the meeting on gains so far recorded by Nigeria in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking, Marwa said there was need for all to put in place a national coordination mechanism that ensures coordinated action against the menace.

He said: “The starting point is the harnessing of all the stakeholders by the national drug focal agency.

“Through this national coordination and collaborative effort, Nigeria has steadily made significant efforts in tackling drug challenges and has between January 2021 and August 2022, recorded unprecedented arrests, in the region of 21,302 suspected drug traffickers, including 28 drug barons. In the area of prosecution, the Agency has secured 3,111 convictions and seized 5.4 million kilogrammes of illicit substances.”

He told the gathering that, “the HONLEA platform offers unlimited opportunities and it is imperative to maximise these amazing benefits by complementing it with practical form of cooperation such as the suggested HONLEA Informal Network of Contact Persons. This would enable regular bilateral meetings, training programmes, exchange of intelligence and conduct of joint operations at sub-regional and regional levels, if need be.”

MEANWHILE, the NDLEA boss said three year ago, Nigeria was sitting on keg of gunpowder, as “we recorded 10.6 million cannabis users, the highest in the world.”

Marwa, who spoke on “Dangers of Illicit Substances to National Development” at an event in Abuja, regretted that citizens, who abused cannabis in the country, are more than the population of Portugal or the United Arab Emirates.

He declared: “Our country’s drug use prevalence is 14.4 per cent when compared to the global average of 5.6 per cent, as there are connections between illicit drugs and crime and insecurity in our domain.

“We discovered in the camps that insurgents and bandits are always littered with illicit drugs, ranging from cannabis to pharmaceuticals, opioids and other controlled drugs like pentazocine.”

Having located and dismantled two clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Lagos and Anambra state, Marwa said: “Our offensive against cannabis continues unabated, seizing 2, 139. 55 kilogrammes of cocaine in Ikorodu.”