The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), headed by retired brigadier general Buba Marwa, reported that in the previous 18 months, 18, 940 drug traffickers had been apprehended.
The topic of Marwa’s speech at the one-day “Drug Awareness Conference, 2022” on Thursday in Abuja was “Drug and Substance Abuse: The Effect on Mental Health and National Security.”
The National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN), the Initiative Against Addiction and Substance Abuse (IAASAN), and NDLEA organised the meeting.
Marwa said.: ”Today, the public is familiar with NDLEA’s arrests, prosecutions, convictions and seizures. We are doing much more behind the scene.
” We are scaling up efforts for the prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation of drug-dependent individuals in our facilities.
” In this regard, we have counselled, treated and rehabilitated not less than 12, 326 in the past 18 months.
”In collaboration with the support of UNODC we have launched standarguidelines for our counselling in all our centres,”
”They include counsellors, psychologists, psychotherapists and other mental health experts. And this is free of charge – both the call itself and the services offered are free,” the NDLEA chairman said.
According to him, the NDLEA has discovered a strong connection between illegal drugs and the recent wave of instability caused by terrorists, bandits, and other non-state destabilising actors.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, who was represented by Amb. Mohammed Ahmed, stated that Nigeria was experiencing an increase in the demand for and trafficking of illegal narcotics in a message for the occasion.
Monguno added that this undesirable development had led to an increase in crime, banditry, kidnapping, and other security-related issues.
