National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of FCT Command has seized 3,546.632 kilograms of hard drugs from January to July.
NDLEA, FCT Commander, Lawan Hamisu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja that the drugs seized comprised Cannabis sativa, Cocaine, Tramadol, Exol, Rohypnol and Diazepam in a coordinated operation across the Territory.
He said that the operatives of the command within the period also arrested 205 suspects comprising of 180 males and 25 females.
Hamisu recalled that April and June was the period of lockdown due to COVID-19 as that it slowed down the level of operations in the FCT.
He, however, noted that the agency had been working as much as possible to operate within the safety protocol as directed by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
He added;
This is actually what account for the number to be this slightly low but it is still a worrisome development.
Hamisu said that the operatives of the command seized 3,295.193kg of cannabis sativa adding that the quantity was over three tonnes.
The commander revealed;
Cocaine of 0.061kg, 0.842kg of Rohypnol, 4.975kg of Diazepam, 2.46kg of Exol and 242.267kg of Tramadol were seized making the total of 3,546.632kg. Within the corridors of FCT, if this has been allowed to be in circulation, what will have been the catastrophe that it would have resulted.
In the same vein, we have issues of cocaine which is very much pronounced as the most notorious drugs, which I must confess is becoming a very saddening event to most families.
Hamisu expressed;
One thing I will like to draw our attention to, including our sister agencies, like NAFDAC for instance, is the increasing abuse of illicit drugs. Drugs that ordinarily suppose to be medicinal, but now they are being abused.
Cough syrup for instance is becoming increasingly abused not only in FCT but in other parts of the country. This is a very serious issue for NDLEA as we are very much concern. And we have been drawing and will continue to draw the attention of relevant authorities to this.
Hamisu said that total conviction from January to July were 75, adding that June had the highest conviction of 37 out of the 75.
He noted that that the number of female arrested within the 7 months could be a bit small but it was disturbing, adding that the frightening thing lately was the demography of drug abuse and trafficking.
According to him, the demography changes shape because of the involvement of students, commercial sex workers and housewives.
The NDLEA commander said that the agency would continue to carry out its duties in line with global best practices to ensure that the territory was free of drug related issues.
