Stand up against drug abuse, trafficking, Marwa urges Nigerians

From Lucky L Akra, Lagos

Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has said that a special task force is currently working across the country to track and dismantle drug cartels behind the production and distribution of methamphetamine, popularly called Mkpuru Mmiri, being abused by youths in parts of the country.

He stated this while answering questions from journalists at a press briefing at the Agency’s national headquarters in Abuja on Monday 24th January, 2022 to mark his first anniversary as Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA.

He challenged communities across Nigeria to take ownership of the war against drug abuse as those in South East states are doing by standing up to those engaging in abuse and trafficking of illicit drugs.

In his words, “If you look at the preponderance of the dealers in drugs, I’m not saying anything new but the South East has the predominance and that’s a fact. Who are the Boko Haram people? I know they are not Yoruba and I know they are not people from Edo, but if you go to the North West and ask who are the bandits, I know they are not from Cross River or from Lagos. If you ask the people doing the human trafficking, the women, you know from where. So definitely, we have the preponderance of the drug dealers from the South East, but what more do you have; the greatest efforts by communities to rid the country and their communities of drug use is from the South East.

“Clearly, in the same South East, they are doing two things; first, they are telling their fellow travelers who are not decent, that look ‘you are the very few who are spoiling our names here. Stop it!’