The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it arrested over 17,647 offenders, convicted and jailed 2, 369 between January 2021 and May 2022.

NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, said this during a press briefing in commemoration of the World Drug Day on Monday in Abuja.

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day (WDD), is marked on June 26 every year.

Speaking on the theme “Addressing Drug Challenges in Health and Humanitarian Crises” Mr Marwa said “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.

“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 were convicted and jailed within the same period while 154,667.339kg of drugs were seized in the first five months of this year alone,” Mr Marwa said.

The NDLEA boss said the agency will be unveiling the NDLEA Call Centre.

“This will be manned by professionals and experts in counselling, psychotherapy, psychology, psychiatry and more to offer help to drug users who will make use of our toll-free lines to seek counselling 24/7.

“This will also enable those afraid of stigmatisation to be able to seek help without necessarily being seen or identified by anyone.

“Even as we rev up our drug supply reduction offensive, it is certain that we are not relenting on getting help to those suffering from drug use disorder,” he said.

(NAN)