NDLEA arrests 10 drug barons, 17,647 offenders in 17 months
Written by Joey Shekwonuzhibo on June 21, 2022
A total of 17, 647 drug offenders and 10 barons have been arrested in the past 17 months with over 2,369 convicted and jailed while more than 11,000 drug users were counselled and treated within the same period.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd.), at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.
NDLEA Spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Monday, said the event was to kickstart activities to mark this year’s UN day against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking under the theme: “Addressing Drug Challenges in Health and Humanitarian Crises.”
The statement quoted Marwa as saying, “For us at the Agency, we are abreast of time and trends as shown by the priority accorded treatment and care. In 2021, about 8,000 drug users were counselled and rehabilitated, in most cases through brief interventions. We continued the effort in the first five months of 2022, whereby an additional 3,523 were also counselled and treated in NDLEA facilities. Simultaneously, we have continued to shut the tap of illicit flow of drugs with the arrest of over 17,647 offenders including 10 drug barons between January 2021 and May 2022; more than 2,369 convicted and jailed within the same period while 154,667.339kg drugs have been seized in the first five months of this year alone.”
The NDLEA boss said changing dynamics have forced a paradigm shift that encompasses a balanced approach to tackling the drug problem in the country.
“That has brought to the fore the imperative of looking at the drug problem through the lens of public health and also tackling such as a broader social problem rather than through the conventional, narrow, criminal matter approach.
