President Muhammadu Buhari announced that the war on drugs by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has been gaining momentum since last year.
This was disclosed in Buhari’s Eid Mubarak message to Nigerians on Sunday evening, posted by Garba Shehu, senior media aide to the Presidency.
The President in his statement revealed the seizure of over 3.4 million kilograms of drugs and cash worth over N130 billion in 2021. He added that the first Quarter of 2022 has seen the arrest of no fewer than 3,536 offenders.
What the President is saying about war on drugs
The President revealed that his administration has also made progress with tackling rising issues of insurgency in the South East and crude oil theft in the South-South.
The President said, “The reinvigoration of the war against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking is also showing positive results as shown by the arrest of over 12, 300 offenders including seven drug barons; the conviction of 1,400, counselling and rehabilitation of about 8,000 drug users.
“The seizure of over 3.4 million kilograms of drugs and cash worth over N130 billion, all in 2021 has been recorded while the first Quarter of this year has seen the arrest of no fewer than 3,536 offenders including security personnel and a well-known billionaire drug baron.
- Buhari added that the seizure of more than 65,000 tons of assorted drugs in this period sets a record for the nation, adding that it was a catalyst for approving the promotion of more than 3,500 officers and also for the procurement of operational equipment, training for personnel and buildings for residential barracks.
- On insecurity, the President stated that with the designation of bandit groups as terrorists, the challenges of banditry and kidnapping are being tackled differently in the North-western and North-central states where the latest military acquisitions and the Armed Forces are being fanned out across the region to thwart acts of terror.
- On the insecurity in the South-east and South-south, the President said, “the administration is equally getting impressive reports of the special operations to curb crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in the South-South, with millions of illegally refined products being impounded and illegal refineries destroyed, and in the South East, military operations against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN) have led to the overrunning of IPOB/ESN bases, the seizure of weapons and the arrest of a large number of suspects.
In case you missed it
- Recall Nairametrics reported earlier that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted travellers’ cheques in different foreign currencies with a total value of N1,157,670,469.92 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos.
