90% of criminalities in Nigeria linked to drug abuse, says Marwa

‘ War against illicit drugs is fight to finish’

CHAIRMAN and Chief Executive Officer of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA), Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa ( Rtd), has said that 90 per cent of criminalities in Nigeria is linked to drug abuse, as such, the war against drug trafficking, peddling and abuse would be a fight to finish, with him in the saddle.

According to a statement, Marwa spoke yesterday at three different fora where he met with various stakeholders in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Addressing men and officers of the Port Harcourt International Airport Command of the NDLEA, along with officials of other security agencies and stakeholders at the airport, the anti- drug abuse boss reminded them that the airports and seaports served as gateway for importation and exportation of illicit drugs. He said they needed to work in synergy to ensure that no hard drug enters or goes out of the country through their area of responsibility.

“We need to secure our country from menace of drug abuse by working together. For us in the new NDLEA, this is a fight to finish. We can’t allow this country to be destroyed by criminalities. All those involved in this criminal act must be fished out and punished,” he said.

At Onne seaport, Marwa told a gathering of stakeholders operating at the port, including men and officers of the agency, that “90 per cent of criminalities in Nigeria today, ranging from banditry to insurgency, kidnapping, rape and others, is linked to use of illicit drugs. “Nobody in his right sense will take up arms to kidnap, rape and kill innocent people. Therefore, if we are able to tackle the issue of drug abuse, most of the security challenges the nation is facing now would have been solved.

“We also need to take this war as a battle to save our children and women, and ultimately our society and the country at large.”

He urged them to be vigilant and ensure “no drug goes out or comes in through Onne seaport because any little drug that escapes into the society can do great damage to our families and our country as a whole.”

Director General, National Agency for Controls of AIDS, Dr. Gambo Aliyu ( left); Country Representative, UN AIDS, Dr. Erasmus Morah; Director, HIV, AIDS and STI, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Ologun Joseph; Managing Director, Society for Family Health, Dr. Omokhudo Idogho and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on HIV and AIDS, Dahiru Sarki at the presentation of stewardship on HIV response in Nigeria from 2007 to 2021 in Abuja… yesterday.