In its efforts to combat trading in illicit drugs in the country, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has destroyed 25 tons of illicit drugs in Kogi State.
The chairman and chief executive officer of NDLEA, Brig. General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) disclosed this in Lokoja yesterday during the public destruction of assorted drug exhibits in the state.
Represented by the director of operations and general investigation from NDLEA headquarters, Ahmed Suleiman Ningi, he noted that this staggering volume of 25,000 kilograms of illicit substances is capable of further heightening the security situation in the country and Kogi State in particular, if allowed to circulate.
Giving a breakdown of the seized illicit drugs that was destroyed, Brigadier General Marwa (rtd) said.
“A breakdown of the drugs for destruction today shows: Cannabis Sativa -20,000.316kg; Tramadol – 476.864kg; Rohypnol-13.045kg; Diazepam 151.319kg; Exol-5 – 648.683kg; Pentazocine injection – 361.650kg; Cocaine -1.888kg; Codeine based syrup – 2393.94-kg; MDMA -0.305kg; Diazepam injection – 1.100kg; and Tramadol injection – 2.800kg.
“Others are Methamphetamine – 34.208kg; Heroin – 0.215kg; Morph ne1.700kg; Ketamine – 3.600kg; Cocodamol – 1.300kg; Midazolan – 3.700kg; and Akuskura (NPS) – 1,132.600kg. This brings the total to 25,229.238kg”.
Continuing, the Chairman and Chief Executive officer of NDLEA said, “The statistics from the National Drug Use Survey (2018) give insights into this. Just two of the facts are enough to cause a sober reflection. One: 14.3 million Nigerians, aged 15-64 years, are abusing drugs.
“That is the size of the population of some countries; and two, 10.6 million of our compatriots abuse cannabis, which makes Nigeria one of the countries with the highest number of people abusing the psychotropic plant. The statistics are worrisome when you look beyond the figures to their health and security implications.
“While the larger society may not have an immediate grasp of the import of the drug facts and figures of Nigeria, those of us at NDLEA can read the handwriting on the wall as per the dire implications of the findings from the 2018 survey report.
“That is why since the coming on board of the current leadership of NDLEA in January 2021, we have doubled down on our efforts and now aggressively pursue our mandate”.
Earlier, The Kogi State Commander of NDLEA Umah Mustapha Yahuza asserted that 24 vehicles belonging to illegal drug dealers have been forfeited to the command.
He solicited the cooperation of the general public to combat illicit trading of drugs in Kogi State adding that, the command is still in possession of five tones of drugs whose cases are not yet concluded.
” Kogi State is strategically located, it shares borders with 10 states and FCT-Abuja. It is a confluence State that connects the Eastern, Southern and the Northern Nigeria, therefore we won’t rest on our oars to ensure we provide the much-needed buffer so that illicit drugs are intercepted with more vigor to prevent these drugs from been trafficked to other States using Kogi State as a transit point”, he added.
In his address, Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, who was represented by the State Security Adviser Commodore Jerry Omodara (rtd), said his administration is concerned about the issues of illicit use of drugs in the state, adding that his administration is working tirelessly in fighting illicit use of drugs in Kogi State.
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