Again, NDLEA seeks stiffer penalties for drug offenders

Again, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has called for stiffer penalties for drug trafficking, urging the removal of the option of fines for drug offenders.

The NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (retd.), made the call on Monday, at the annual dinner of the Institute of Change Management, in Lagos.

This is not the first time the agency would be making this call as Marwa has previously called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to abolish the option of paying a fine for the crime of drug trafficking.

Represented by the Director, Seaport Operation, Omolade Faboyede, the agency’s boss said it had become worrisome that officers lose their lives in the course of battling with drug traffickers.

He said, “It is worrisome that we have some of our officers lost their lives in the course of battling with drug traffickers. But at the end of the day, some of these offenders when taken to court, are just fined and they later return to the same business.

“This is a worrisome trend that we are trying to correct in other to make the punishment stiffer.”

Speaking on the theme, ‘Drug abuse in Nigeria: Changing the narrative,’ Marwa explained that the drug problem in Nigeria was massive, noting the need for the country to embark on aggressive reduction of drug supply.

Read also: NDLEA arrests Spain-bound man for ingesting 96 pellets of cocaine in Abuja

“The National Drug Use Survey 2018 indicated that 14.3 million Nigerians representing 14.4 per cent of the country’s population used psychoactive substances aside from alcohol.

“As chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse, I had a clear view of the situation and what should be done to reverse the trend.

“We have to shut down the pipeline. That is, take the traffickers and their barons out of the picture. We have to embark on an aggressive drug supply reduction campaign.

“It is to this end that we launched the War Against Drug Abuse campaign which is meant to, in the long run, help prevent the entrenchment of drug abuse culture among young people in the society,” he added.

On his part, the President of ICM, Nathaniel Osewele, said the choice of the topic was informed by the need to further deepen the discourse on the increasing wave of misuse and abuse of hard drugs in society, especially among youths.

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