THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Command in Nasarawa State, says it arrested a total of 63 suspected drug dealers and traffickers between July 2017 and June 2018.
The state NDLEA Commander, Mr Sumaila Ethan, made this known while briefing newsmen on Tuesday in Lafia, as part of activities marking the 2018 United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The News Agency (NAN) reports that the theme of the celebration is “Listen First”.
Ethan said a total of 3,683 kilograms of suspected hard drugs were also seized during the period.
“We also destroyed a half acre of Indian hemp farm within the period under review,’’ he said.
Ethan explained that 54 out of the 63 arrested suspects, were successfully prosecuted and convicted at the Federal High Court in Lafia.
According to him, the hard drugs seized include 804.22 kilograms of Indian hemp, 2, 873.8 kilograms of tramadol (225mg), 5.3 grams of cocaine as well as 57.2 litres of codeine syrup.
He said a total of 180 drug addicts were rehabilitated through the agency’s counseling programme without a single case of relapse during the period.
“The combination of physical and spiritual counseling of drug users remain the best as attested to by the zero rate of relapse in our facility,” Ethan said.
The commander said that agency had also embarked on intensive sensitisation campaigns on the inherent danger of drug abuse in places of worship, prison formations, schools and markets across the state.
He said the agency was able to establish Drug-Free clubs in nine secondary schools across the state with the aim of reaching out to youth at an early stage to curb the menace of drug abuse.
Ethan said although, the NDLEA is doing its best to rid the state of illicit drugs, inadequate manpower has been a great challenge towards effective coverage of the state.
“We recently created four area commands which are strategically located in Keffi, Wamba, Akwanga and Karu Local Government Area (LGAs) of the state, cutting across the three senatorial zones.
“We believe that by the time the Federal Government fulfill its promise of recruiting 15,000 additional officers in the agency, the issue of inadequate manpower will be greatly addressed,” Ethan said.
He lauded Gov. Umaru Al-Makura, for his financial and logistic support, which had enhanced the operational activities of the agency in the state.– Jun. 26, 2018 @ 15:50 GMT |