CITY NEWS NDLEA intercepts bus carrying Indian hemp Stakeholders tackle Candido on AMAC marshals
The Abaji Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Saturday morning intercepted a luxury bus carrying a bag containing substance suspected to be Indian hemp near the Army checkpoint at Abaji, on the Abuja-Lokoja road.
A source with the NDLEA who preferred anonymity confided in our reporter yesterday that the Marco Polo bus was intercepted during a stop and search operation.
He said the officials were on patrol and decided to stop the bus, on which they found the substance in a black polythene bag and concealed inside a carton.
“So it was in the process of bringing out some of the load inside the bus that one of the cartons sealed with cellotape was opened and Indian hemp was discovered sealed in a black polythene bag,” he said.
He said after the discovery, the bus driver was asked to drive to the command office in the area, where the bus was impounded, while passengers on board alighted and looked for alternative means of transportation to their destinations.
He said the substance had been taken to the FCT command, while the bus was still at the Abaji unit command.
When contacted, the Abaji commandant of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmed Abubakar Wali, could not be reached for comment, as his phone was not connecting at the time of filing this report yesterday. Leader of the FCT Stakeholders’ Forum, Ambassador Ayuba Jacob Ngbako, has challenged the chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) to make the roles of the newly constituted AMAC Marshals public to avoid misinterpretation.
Ngbako, a former Nigerian envoy to the Gambia and currently the Executive Director of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services, insisted that the formation of the newly created force did not pass through the legislative process of the council.
He further warned the chairman of what he called the attendant danger the force would instil in the lives of already suffering residents of the council, adding that the chairman should have consulted widely, especially with the stakeholders, who have major roles to play in terms of policy formation of the council.
“I am much aware that the creation of such force did not pass through legislative process and stakeholders were not invited to air their opinions on the creation of such body.
“We are also not comfortable with such decisions because it will tell on our people, so we want the chairman to explain reason behind the body without legislative backing,’’ he said.
He then called on the chairman to always relate with the legislative arm of the council before creating any organ of the government and also seek the opinions of the stakeholders before coming up with policy that would have direct impact on the people of the council.