TheCable

Buba Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), says 4.5 million people in Lagos state are involved in illicit drugs.

Speaking during a visit to the Lagos NDLEA command on Tuesday, Marwa said the state accounts for 30 percent of the total number of drug abusers in the country.

TheCable has not been able to immediately verify this claim.

In his remarks on Tuesday, the former military governor of Lagos ordered operatives of the agency to wipe out drug cartels in the state.

“In the country, an estimate of 15 million people belong to one or more aspects of illicit drug dealing. This means about 4.5 million people in Lagos state are into illicit drugs,” NAN quoted him as saying.

The NDLEA chairman said there are about one million patent medicine stores in the country, but noted that such facilities have aided the sale of illicit drugs.

“Out of the figure, only 58,000 patent medicine outlets are registered, while about one million others remain unregistered. This has really enhanced sales of illicit drugs in the state,” he said.

“It is only through the combined efforts of all the officers that the agency can win the fight against drugs.”

The NDLEA chairman is on a three-day familiarisation and assessment visit to the various commands of the agency in Lagos.