Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir has charged the State Command of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to as a matter of urgency, go after drug barons, dealers and merchants operating in the State.
The Governor further charged the NDLEA to ensure that any dealer, baron, or merchant caught was properly prosecuted so that, “It will be last deal of his life. Enough of this, they are not bigger than the law of Nigeria.”
Bala Mohammed was responding to the remarks of the NDLEA State Commander, Ali Aminu during a courtesy visit at the Government House, Bauchi.
The governor who agreed that drug abuse is on the increase in the State, charged that, “You need to stem to tide of sarasuka in the state, they cannot just be cutting hands under the influence of drugs abuse and go Scott free.”
According to him, “We want you to go after the marchants, those that are in the business of supply, they can’t be bigger than the law, don’t only prosecute the takers, prosecute the sellers, if you arrest any dealer, make sure that is the end of his business for life.”
He stressed that, “We know the importance of your Agency, we know what you are here to do for us, as an Agency, we are always looking up to you to support government in the efforts to ensure that the state is drug-free in terms of abuse and trafficking.”
The Governor said that, “We will always give you the opportunity to come and interact. I listened with rapt attention to the activities of the Agency since you came on board, and, some of the numbers and statistics are not very encouraging but it is better for us to know the blatant truth than to be hidden.”
He said that, “It is because Bauchi is a state that is a gateway to about 7 states and gateway to 3 zones of the country, North-East, North-Central and North-West, so, it is in the middle. As a gateway, we are carriers or we are users of the banned drugs.”
Bala Mohammed stressed that,” from the national statistics, the state is the 3rd most populous state in the North after Kano and Kaduna, and, so of course, demographic, migration and the rest are not helping us because by virtue of our being relatively peaceful, people are migrating to this place, it is normal with people to move away from where there is insecurity to where is more secured.”
“And with that, issue of enjoyment may lead to abuse, and so, I thank you for prosecuting over 100, that means that you are not complacent, you are working very hard to ensure a free drug society, you are not looking people in the eyes,” he said.
The Governor added that, “I have always mentioned in our security meetings, that we need NDLEA to nip the crimes in the bud, because, most of the crimes and criminalities are being perpetuated by our leaders of tomorrow, the Youths who are, not because of their own faults, finding resorts in drugs because of frustration, disillusionment, lack of employment and so on, they are so disgruntled.”
“Of course,, we as a government, has the responsibilities to make sure that we create opportunities. Since I came in, my business has been to look into the macro economics situation in the country and the world and look at our micro, how to raise the GDP and create employment either direct or indirect by making sure that there are projects and programmes that are going on and some of the small jobs in the informal sector are encouraged,” The Governor said.
According to him, “All these come with responsibilities, you must make sure you do your job, and I will support you to make sure you do your work well, you must establish community relationship with our traditional rulers, with community leaders and religious leaders.”
Bala Mohammed said that, “We are not happy with the level of sensitization and Publicity of the activities of NDLEA, people should know your importance, should know what you are doing. Of course sometimes we have some mutinies of compromise here and there, you must make sure you do it because drugs and drugs business is very lucrative, you must open your eyes and make sure that nobody collects from the left and uses it with the right.”
The Governor added that, “We want a routine of burning all these drugs that you have seized because we have not done it for a long time, I want to be invited as soon as possible. There is the need for visibility and transparency, we will do our best to make sure we provide minimum comfort for you even though you have your headphones in Abuja. So far, NDLEA are doing well over here.”
Earlier, the NDLEA Commander, Ali Aminu explained that the Agency is charged with the responsibilities of elimination of drugs abuse, manufacturing, trafficking and use of illicit drugs in Nigeria.
He said that Substance abuse has emerged as a significant challenge among the younger generation, affecting individuals’ mental well-being and physicality, relationships and general social life.
According to him, “The recent national survey on drugs use and health 2018 shows that youths involvement in drugs abuse especially in our schools has taken a frightening dimensions. By virtue of my position as NDLEA State Commander, I can say with confidence that the level of drugs use in the state is very high and the consequences too are very high.”
Ali Aminu said that, “this calls for concerted efforts by all to protect our loved ones. But, where do we start from, we found out that our youths Constitute the highest risk group and always the initiator group.”
According to him, “Since my assumption of duty last year August till date, the arrest and recovery made by Command to date is 1201.24kg equivalent to 1.2 tons of various illicit drugs and psychotropic substances, this includes cannabis sativa 1114.202kg, meta vitamin popularly known as Ice, 0.165kg, psychotropic substances 160.553kg comprising tramadol, D5, injections and syrup with codeine, akuskura, 7.265kg, grand total is 1202.24kg.”
On Arrest, he said that 366 suspects, male 342, female 24 have been arrested by the Command saying,”Since my assumption of duty, I have prosecuted 103 suspects, I have 31 pending cases in court. And then there is drugs and demand and reduction unit, we admitted 21 and discharged 13, now through follow up we have 14 demand and use in our custody.”
“I am appealing to the government to support the Command with logistics such as vehicles for operational activities, ensure that the committee on drugs abuse is functioning, establish committees against drugs abuse at the LGA and ward levels, build rehabilitation centre targeting those who need to be rehabilitated,” he concluded.
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