TheCable

Buba Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), says the agency arrested over 17,000 persons on alleged drug-related offences within 17 months.

Marwa said this on Monday at a media briefing in Abuja to kickstart activities to commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The theme of this year’s World Drug Day is ‘Addressing Drug Challenges in Health and Humanitarian Crises’.

Speaking on NDLEA’s efforts on tackling drug abuse, Marwa said over 8,000 drug users were counselled and rehabilitated in 2021.

“For us at the Agency, we are abreast of time and trends as shown by the priority accorded treatment and care. In 2021, about 8,000 drug users were counselled and rehabilitated, in most cases through brief interventions,” Marwa was quoted as saying in a statement by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson.

“We continued the effort in the first five months of 2022, whereby an additional 3,523 were also counselled and treated in NDLEA facilities.

“Simultaneously, we have continued to shut the tap of illicit flow of drugs with the arrest of over 17,647 offenders including 10 drug barons between January 2021 and May 2022; more than 2,369 convicted and jailed within the same period, while 154,667.339kg drugs have been seized in the first five months of this year alone.”

The NDLEA chairman added that the health concerns around drug abuse have also been incorporated into the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP) 2021-2025.