Again, the nexus between drug abuse and crimes/banditry is occupying public discourse as ELEOJO IDACHABA writes.
The level of banditry in the country of late is unprecedented. Analysts are of the view that the crime, to a large extent, is linked to the proliferation of illicit drugs easily accessible especially by the youth.
In its frightful form, the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had in 2017 reported that over 83,233 able-body individuals were arrested and successfully prosecuted for various jail terms on drug trafficking and drug abuse-related problems in the past 10 years.
This was before Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa assumed leadership of the agency. It’s therefore not out of place to imagine that the impact of this on the national labour force and human capital development is damaging. This is despite the fact that arrests for violent crimes traceable to drug abuse have continued to trend in the country.
Worried by this, Blueprint Weekend gathered that Gen. Marwa hit the ground running, not only by reading rioting acts to perpetrators of drug abuse, but he went round the country especially at major commands and international airports to sensitise the nation that a new sheriff was in town.
In one of those visits that took him to Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, he met with Governor Nyesom Wike who agreed with him that his appointment as the helmsman of the NDLEA, no doubt, would make a difference judging from his records as a military administrator of Lagos state where he tackled armed robbery commendably.
According to Wike, Nigeria must get to the root of illicit drugs and their abuse in order to tackle banditry and other violent crimes.
Shortly after his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari, one of the earliest assignments Mrawa carried out was a matching order he gave to state commanders of the agency and special commands to mop up illicit drugs across the country.
Marwa’s warnings
During his maiden meeting with commanders at the agency’s headquarters, he disclosed plans to seek the government’s approval to conduct drug tests on tertiary institutions’ new students, security agencies, fresh recruits and all newly appointed government employees.
He said, “All of you must shape up and get all those engaged in the nefarious business to face the music, and I need results from now on. Our maxim will be offensive action. This means we must go all out constantly on the offensive against the bad guys.
“The success we make of this particular task goes a long way to determine the socio-economic stability of the nation. We need not be told of the nexus between drug use, crime and criminalities. The exponential growth of the nefarious drug activities can be directly linked to the upsurge in crimes such as insurgency, terrorism, kidnapping, cultism, political thuggery, gangsterism, rape and other mal-adaptation bedevilling today’s Nigeria.”
He said further that, “It is a moving train. Please, let nobody stand in its front. The train will crush any such person. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. To the unbending drug crime perpetrators, I would like to let them know also that the game is up! It is high time they embraced another trade. The federal government policy on agriculture is a window for them to leverage on.”
An analyst’s take
While writing on the nexus between drugs and crimes, Ijie Kissy, a public affairs analyst, said, “Illicit drug trade is increasingly seen as one crime typology linked to money laundering, corruption, gangsterism, cultism, kidnapping, armed robbery and host of other crimes. It is not surprising that Nigeria continues to battle with insecurity because of the strong link between drugs and violence. Drugs abuse is at the center of it all. Child soldiers are engaged and drugged to achieve high performance. In some cases, drugs were the currency used in the commission of terrorist attacks as was in the Madrid bombing of 2004.”
She also said, “Regions of the world that dominate illicit drug production and trafficking appear to be in the forefront of political disorder and violent crimes. In EL-Salvador, drugs and alcohol are the nucleus of the problems of the country. El-Salvador is the world’s most murderous country with an estimated homicide rate of 140 per 100,000. Columbia is the world’s largest cocaine producer. Drug trafficking has been the fuel for violence in Colombia for decades and it’s internationally known as the Kidnap Capital of the world over while one quarter of its population have been assaulted.”
She noted that, Nigeria, like many other countries, has been in the forefront of global efforts at suppressing the drug menace in support of global peace and security.
“Despite effort by the Nigerian government, nothing significantly has changed in the international perception of the country and its citizens. Nigeria is still perceived as a transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for Europe, East Asia and North American.” The country she noted is viewed as a safe haven for narcotic traffickers operating worldwide and a major money laundering centre and her people as criminally minded. Given such a description, the nation and its people at international customs environments and elsewhere have been subjects of international hostility and ridicule in both tacit and open repression. Drug abuse and trafficking are gravely of growing concern due to its broad impact on health and development. No nation seems to be immune to the attendant problems. Drug trafficking has particularly several implications because of the vast illegal profits it generates.”
Global report
Reports by the International Alerts Monitor on Nigeria revealed that drug use was potentially dangerous in areas where there are already conflicts between communities. It noted that in personal altercations, it can take on a larger significance depending on the ethno-political or religious identity of those involved.
“In Borno state, many people described drugs as having played a major role in the violent conflict involving Boko Haram. The use of tramadol, an over-the-counter pain-killer related to morphine and other opiates, was said to be rampant in the militant group’s ranks, and many felt the drug played a significant role in enabling atrocities on both sides of the conflict.
“A large number also linked drugs to election violence. Some politicians and candidates reportedly employ drug users as informal street enforcers and during elections distribute drugs to them to enable the harassment of opposing voters,” the report revealed.
An ex-NDLEA boss’ revelation
The immediate past chairman and chief executive officer of NDLEA, Muhammad Abdallah, while giving a statistical analysis of drugs in the country last year said tramadol is a major catalyst for insurgency in the North-eastern part of the country ravaged by insurgency.
He noted that drug abuse increased during the 2020 lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic and that of the abused psychoactive substances by Nigerian youths, the consumption of tramadol is more worrisome.
“The government of India has up its ante; they have now put more control on the supply of tramadol to Nigeria. Tramadol, if I will explain a little bit more, for normal medicinal dosage is between 50mg and 100mg, but the ones we have seen in Nigeria range from 200mg to like 500mg. Even a horse will be deadbeat by the time it takes that.
“But that is what Nigerians have been taking. That is what fuels insurgency in the North-east. Because Theatre Commandants have testified to me that every Boko Haram camp they have overrun, they found paraphernalia of drug abuse particularly tramadol,” he said.
Abdallah noted further that, “The whole average of drug abuse in nations in 5%. In Nigeria, it is getting to 15%. That is not data or a statistic we should be happy with.”
He said there was the need for collaborative efforts by all including parents to stem the tide of drug abuse in the country, adding: “I know we are going through a pandemic universally but the real pandemic to us is the drug pandemic.”
He added that the government has taken some steps to address the challenge of manpower confronting the agency. “On the part of the government, it has taken some steps to ameliorate some of the deficiencies of the agency. For a start, Mr. President has authorised an upgrade on the staff strength of the agency.
“A staff strength of 5,000 without being told is not a staff strength that can fight drugs the way it should be fought in Nigeria. Let me just mention three local governments. You know Mushin in Lagos, you know Fagge in Kano or even Nyanya in Abuja.
“I could deploy all of that strength to these places including me and there would still be some loopholes for trafficking and abuse would still go on. That is why the president has approved the upgrade in phases. Following this would be logistics and equipment which come naturally with the upgrade of personnel.”
Exploits so far
As the NDLEA progresses further in checkmating illicit drugs in the country, a transborder drug trafficker, 36-year-old Nkem Timothy, alias Auwalu Audu, was arrested in Sokoto last week by operatives of the agency while trying to cross to Algeria through Niger Republic with 62 wraps of substance suspected to be cocaine.
Report had it that the hard drug weighing 1.550kg is valued at N1 billion.
The acting state commander of NDLEA in Sokoto, Bamidele Segun, said the suspect was intercepted on a motorcycle around the baggage area at Illela border while trying to cross to Niger Republic but his final destination was to be Algeria where he resides.
“The illicit drug was neatly concealed inside youghurt bottles. He was found with an ECOWAS passport with a different name written as Auwalu Audu but he gave his real name as Nkem Timothy. This is a ground breaking feat for us in the Command as seizure of this magnitude of type A drug (cocaine) has never been made in Sokoto Command before,” he said.
Also, within the same week, the Adamawa state command of the agency arrested one Umar Mohammed with 82 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 70kg at Lafiya Lamurde area of the state. While reacting to these, the chairman/chief executive of the NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the two commands and charged them to remain vigilant and ensure no illicit drug goes in or out of their areas of responsibility.
Blueprint Weekend’s investigation in Abuja revealed that the impact of drugs is like a bug that has caught almost everyone, especially youths. Speaking with Yusuf Abdullahi, a florist in Jabi area of Abuja, he said the consumption of drugs whether in the form of weed or hard drugs is no longer abnormal because that for him is the only way to cope with the hardship in the society. With a wrap of what looks like Indian hemp in his hands, he said, “Everything is hard in Nigeria today. You need to be high so that you can forget hardship.”
When reminded that smoking weed remains banned in Nigeria, he said, “Who banned it? Is it the police? They are my friends. I keep some wraps for them in this garden. When they drive their trucks here, they would pick and go. Are they the ones that banned it? Weed helps me to work hard whenever I have a lot to do.”
As it is, how far the Gen. Marwa-led management of NDLEA can go is what Nigerians are watching, but like the late Prof. Dora Akunyuli who came to NAFDAC when it seemed all hopes were lost and turned it around, it is expected that Marwa would walk his talk in months to come.
