The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Saturday raised the alarm over the threat to Nigeria's sovereignty by the activities of drug barons. The Agency warned that drug barons could infiltrate the highest levels of government and stall the drug war if their activities were left unchecked. The Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade stated this in an address he presented to commemorate the 2010 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug trafficking, in Abuja. [continues 71 words]
There are fresh indications that the authorities of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency may have shielded the members of a powerful jail-evasion cartel in the agency from punishment, contrary to the recommendations of the Justice Gilbert Obayan (rtd) National Committee for Reform of the NDLEA. Rather than retire the original 71 officials of the agency indicted by the committee, investigations by Saturday Punch showed that only nine had been retired while the NDLEA sacrificed the career of 62 other innocent officers to make up the number, thereby shielding members of the cartel. [continues 768 words]
There are fears that political power and decisions in Nigeria and the other West African countries risk falling under the control of wealthy drug barons who record annual turnover of $1billion, SUNDAY PUNCH investigations indicate. Nigerian drug barons and other criminal syndicates in the West African countries are said to be presiding over a thriving trade in cocaine and other hard drugs with total worth enough to take over the weak political structures in the sub-continent. The fear of the wealthy drug barons, a United Nations officer on Drugs and Crimes in Africa, Latin America and the Middle-East, Mr. Chris Van Der Burgh, said, was at the centre of the body's new strategy to combat drug trade in the region. [continues 845 words]
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 114-year-old man, Chief Sulaimon Adebayo, in Ogun State, in connection with the discovery of 6.5 tonnes of weeds suspected to be marijuana, popularly called Indian Hemp, behind his house. Parading the suspect in Abeokuta on Friday, the State Commandant of the NDLEA, Mrs. Chinyere Obijuru, said the anti-drug agency, acting on a tip off, swooped on the house of the centenarian, who claimed to be the Baale (community leader) of Oja Sango, Odeda Local Government of the state. [continues 267 words]
The Ogun State Government has called on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to find 'appropriate' ways of disposing the drugs seized from drug barons and traffickers in the country. The State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who spoke at the burning of 3,015 kilogrammes of cannabis, cocaine and heroine in Abeokuta on Friday, said the burning of exhibits in open air constituted environmental hazard. Represented by the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Olukoya Adeleke-Adedoyin, the governor expressed worry that the burning of the exhibits had weakened the fight against climatic change. [continues 389 words]
The scourge of Indian hemp cultivation in the South-West of Nigeria is a major problem for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, writes ADEMOLA ONI EACH week at the nation's international airports, tens of Nigerians are caught with hard drugs of varying weights. Yet, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has not expressed its desperation to tackle the drug menace at the points of exit. Somehow, the NDLEA appears to be fighting a battle that seems to be taking a lot of resources of the anti-narcotics body. At its third zonal awareness campaign on the prevention of the cultivation of illicit drugs, trafficking and abuse, in Abeokuta last week, the Director-General of the NDLEA, Chief Lanre Ipinmisho, expressed concern on the notoriety which the South-West had gained in the cultivation of cannabis, popularly known as Indian hemp or ganja in local parlance. [continues 809 words]
