The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Gombe State command, has secured a total of 44 convictions out of the 353 suspects arrested and prosecuted for various drug-related offences in 2023.

The Gombe State commander of the NDLEA, Ekechukwu Ekere, made this known in an interview with journalists in Gombe on Wednesday while speaking about the success recorded by the command in 2023.

According to him, in the year under review, the command seized over 1,038,248 kg of various illicit drugs and substances during various operations and motorised patrols across the state.

He said the drugs seized were as follows, cannabis sativa 640.792kg, tramadol 112.175kg, amphetamine 37gm, Rohypnol 77gm, excel-5 43.703kg, pentazocine 3,300ml and codeine 383ml.

He also said the state command had counselled eight males in its rehabilitation facility while the number of persons who used drugs referred for brief counselling from the investigation unit was 218.

Mr Ekere, who stressed the importance of the rehabilitation facility, however, said the command could not bear the cost of running the facility alone.

He urged the state government to provide financial support in maintaining the facility.

He commended the support and cooperation of stakeholders, non-governmental organisations and the office of the First Lady of Gombe State in the fight against drug abuse in the state.

Mr Ekere said that without their support, the command would not have recorded the success it did.

He said the drug war was not an NDLEA war alone, as it required all hands to be on deck in tackling the menace.

(NAN)