The chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Buba Marwa, stated that President Bola Tinubu has enhanced the agency’s capacity to effectively deliver on its mandate.

Mr Marwa stated this during his presentation at the two-day interactive session on government-citizens’ engagement on Tuesday in Kaduna. According to the NDLEA boss, drugs are among the top three challenges bedeviling Nigeria.

“Over 14 million Nigerians are battling with drug abuse issues. From the South-West region, we have 24.4 per cent drug abuse prevalence,  South-South has 18 per cent, South-East 13.8, North-East 13.4, North-West 12 per cent, and North-Central 10 per cent.

“These are UN figures, and they call for serious concern. 12 per cent is high, because in North-West, we have three million people, followed by Kano with one million. Drug prevalence not only harms our youths, societies, and families, but also encourages criminal activities like kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism,” the anti-narcotics boss stated.

As Mr Marwa noted, the Tinubu administration “has done a lot in addressing drug abuse and trafficking in the country” since assuming office in May 2023, showing “great interest in the work of NDLEA”.

“His unwavering support has enhanced our intelligence and boosted our capacity. We now have intelligent modern tools, operations vehicles, and sophisticated weapons to protect our men and women against drug cartels,” he added.

According to Mr Marwa, the agency had increased its staff strength. 

“We are now over 15,000. We are everywhere now: the airports, seaports, highways, and the sea. We even have a marine command now,” Mr Marwa stated.

(NAN)