The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), have decided to collaborate to fight the menace of drug abuse, alcoholism and chemical misuse.

This is contained in a statement signed by NAFDAC’s spokesman, Olusayo Akintola, and issued in Abuja on Sunday.

NAFDAC stated that the decision was reached when the agency’s management, led by its director-general, Mojisola Adeyeye, visited NCTC headquarters in Abuja.

Ms Adeyeye explained that the visit aimed to enhance and strengthen the existing working partnership between the two organisations in regulations, expressing NAFDAC’s readiness to work with the NCTC.

The NAFDAC boss disclosed that drug abuse, chemical misuse and alcoholism had been traced as the major contributors to acts of terrorism and that there was a need for action to fight against them.

Ms Adeyeye said NAFDAC was now using what she called ‘’track and trace’, a traceability tool to regulate drugs and trace how the drugs move from manufacturers to end users.

“We have global positioning systems that can pinpoint drugs to the nearest location. This is so important because the use of narcotics can alter the minds of its users and can lead to extremism, terrorism, loss of lives and loss of livelihood,” stated the NAFDAC chief.

NCTC coordinator Yaminu Musa explained that the essence of the partnership was to draw up the modalities of the partnership between the two agencies.

“If we do it now and we do it right, we will be setting the new government on that pedestal to understanding us better and for us to be able to deliver more for the government,” said Mr Musa.

(NAN)