The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has identified drug abuse as the major cause of the nation’s security and called on critical stakeholders to support the agency to tackle the menace.
The chairman of the agency, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.), who stated this on Friday in Lokoja at a stakeholders’ meeting on the fight against drug trafficking and abuse, said it was a tragedy that had become the nation’s number one problem.
He said drug abuse had been the major cause of insecurity in the country, stressing that bandits, kidnappers and several other people engaging in issues of insecurity across the country were “usually on hard drugs.”
The NDLEA boss said the agency “is working majorly to fight against accessibility to drugs by ceasing and destroying the supply of cannabis sativa and other related illicit drugs.”
Marwa disclosed that the NDLEA was committed to fighting the scourge of drug supply chain and to discourage the users, adding that the drug demand consumption level of the country “is alarming.”
He urged parents to be observant of their children and wards even as he charged religious leaders to always use their platforms to preach against the dangers of drug intake and abuse.
Earlier, in a welcome remark, the Kogi state commander of the agency, Commander of Narcotics, Alfred Adewumi, commended the repositioning of the agency by Marwa for effective battle against drug abuse.
Blueprint reports that critical stakeholders at the meeting such as persons living with disabilities; NCWS; NURTW; civil society organisations; media and others promised to work with NDLEA to reduce the scourge drastically.
