By Bisola Adeyemo
Following the circulation of hard drugs in Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has pledge to support National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)in fighting against drug trafficking in Nigeria.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, made the commitment in Abuja during the visit of the management team of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) led by its Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd).
Marwa has also said that until the circulation of hard drugs is curbed, there may be no end to insecurity and crimes in the country, this day reports
The NNPC, in a statement yesterday, quoted Kyari as saying that beyond the strict enforcement of the drug policy in the corporation, there was a need for NNPC to be sensitive to the ravaging effect of drug abuse in the larger society.
“Consumption of illicit drugs is a major problem in this country, ravaging communities and all categories of people and dispositions. As an enabler organisation that is very conscious of what happens in our country, we are very interested in the containment of illicit drugs in Nigeria,” he said.
Earlier, Marwa had appealed to the corporation for support in the fight against drug abuse.
He commended Kyari for his doggedness and result-oriented leadership.
Marwa, on another occasion, called for tighter control of drugs in circulation as a way of ending insecurity in the country.
Marwa, who yesterday visited the Lagos State Command of the agency alongside other directors of the NDLEA, said: “If you open the newspapers today or watch television every day, you will see crimes; either that they are kidnapping schoolchildren or killing people. They all use drugs before going to perpetrate this evil, and until we tackle this issue of drug, we may not see the end of insecurity. It has to go together.”
A statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy of the agency, Mr. Femi Babafemi, quoted Marwa to have said that: “I know that you need more men and women in this command and very soon the training of the new recruits will commence and from there, we are going to give you more personnel and other commands. Very soon different equipment will come in, including scanners. When I took over, I found the morale of our officers very low and I know you are all trying very hard to meet up your responsibilities while we still owe you a lot of money, but I am giving you an assurance that your welfare is a priority.
“We have made appropriate representations to the appropriate authorities and I have received the assurance that they have listened to us, so, we are confident that within this budget year, we will get relief.”
Marwa while expressing satisfaction with the record of activities of the agency in the last two months, said for the whole of 2019, MMIA Command only recovered 34.109 kg of cocaine and 21.72 kg of heroine but with less than three months this year, the command had seized 63.217 kg of cocaine and 950 kg heroine.
