The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of 62,595 drug suspects and the conviction of 11,628 offenders between January 2021 and March 2025 across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, made the statement during the opening ceremony of a conference for Nigeria’s Governors’ Spouses in Abuja on Tuesday.
The event was organized by the NDLEA in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses’ Forum and was reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The theme of the event was “Advanced Training on Drug Prevention, Treatment, and Care (DPTC) Stage 3 and Effective Management of the State Drug Control Committee.”
Marwa emphasized that over the past four years, the NDLEA had pursued this mission with renewed and unwavering zeal, ensuring that Nigeria’s hard-won global and regional drug control successes were not only preserved but expanded.
“Permit me to inform this distinguished gathering that over these years, the NDLEA has deployed substantial resources toward a comprehensive assault on the drug problem, yielding significant outcomes,” he stated.
Drug supply reduction mandate
He further outlined the drug supply reduction mandate, which includes drug seizures, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions.
“We recorded the arrest of 62,595 drug suspects, including 68 drug barons. We have seized 10,317,137.55 kilograms of assorted drugs and secured the conviction of 11,628 offenders. Additionally, 1,330.56553 hectares of cannabis farms were identified and destroyed,” Marwa said.
Marwa said that equal emphasis had been placed on drug demand reduction to ensure a balanced approach in accordance with international best practices.
“Between January 2021 and March 2025, a total of 24,375 drug users received counselling and treatment at NDLEA facilities, primarily through brief interventions.
“Concurrently, 10,501 drug sensitization programmes were conducted nationwide under the auspices of the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy campaign, reaching diverse target groups within communities.
“In parallel, a remarkable 3,843,789 participants were mobilized to partake in these enlightenment initiatives undertaken across the nation,” he said.
NDLEA’s investment in prevention strategies
The NDLEA boss stated that the agency had made intentional investments in the implementation of Drug Use Prevention strategies, recognizing that prevention is invariably better than cure.
He emphasized that these targeted interventions were crucial in reducing risk factors and strengthening protective factors against substance abuse, especially among vulnerable and marginalized populations, including the youth.
He noted that, “regardless of how dark the hour may seem, we must not surrender to despair. As patriots and vanguards of the nation’s well-being, it is our duty to strengthen our resolve and move with deliberate speed toward practical and lasting solutions that, with God’s help, will break the vicious cycle of drug abuse.”
Capacity building and community-centered solutions
He also remarked that this capacity-building event, though small, represents progress in the right direction. Given that the burden of the drug menace is most acutely felt at the community level, he stressed the importance of addressing the different dimensions of the problem from a community-centered perspective.
The NDLEA boss urged that this gathering strive for common ground, focusing on the development of indigenous and pragmatic solutions that go beyond statistics and alarming headlines to address the real human toll of drug abuse.
