The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday disclosed that it seized 15,500 kilograms of illicit drugs comprising cannabis, cocaine, heroine among others in Borno State within the past three years.
State commandant of the agency in Borno, Mr Joseph Icha, made the disclosure when he paid a courtesy visit to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Borno State Council in Maiduguri.
He noted that the command in 2020 destroyed illicit drugs worth 19, 235 kilograms before securing approval for the destruction of the current seizure amounting to billions of naira seized between 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Mr Icha added that the theme of the United Nations World Drugs Day for 2023 is;
“People First, Stop the Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen prevention” , hence the command’s activities in the next one month is appraisal of the efforts it has made and put in place so far.
” We are at the right place to meet you to to seek the support and synergy from you. So the UN Day of drug abuse is a day we will remind the world that there are actually drug challenges.
“We have been able to seize some monies from drug peddlers and put them into the federal government’s account; seized vehicles have been valued for auction and so many persons arrested are undergoing trials for various drug offences in the courts,” he said.
In his remarks, the chairman of NUJ Borno State Council, Comrade Dauda Iliya, thanked the commandant for the visit and noted that the successes recorded so far were indeed testimony to his hard work and determination to eradicate the menace of hard drugs in the state.
