Posted by By Henry Chukwurah, Port Harcourt on
Aside the usually scanty activities noticeable from the outside, the large structure would pass for an abandoned building complex.
Aside the usually scanty activities noticeable from the outside, the large structure would pass for an abandoned building complex. Moreso, the one-storey edifice built by the Ibrahim Babangida administration, was originally the headquarters of one of the defunct political parties midwifed and later strangled by the same military regime.
But this is the office of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Port Harcourt. Like every other of its offices in other states, the complex houses the suspects of drug-related offences and those addicted to hard drugs that are undergoing rehabilitation.
However, one feature that marks the Port Harcourt office out from the others is that like its inmates, the complex suffers a peculiar addiction of years of undeserved neglect and is in dire need of rehabilitation.
A tour of the building reveals a structure begging for repairs and refurbishing. Apart from the age-worn paints, the building is dotted with leaky roofs and collapsing ceilings that have become the nightmare of the officials and the inmates alike.
"Sometimes, we get the feeling that the whole place could cave in any time. For most of us, caution is the word when you are walking some corridors of the building," said a staff.
The official told Daily Sun that apart from the fear of possible collapse of the ceiling and roofs, the staff and the inmates also contend with reptiles that occasionally drop from the gaping roofs.
"What if a snake moves in up there and falls on somebody? The whole thing beats my imagination because nobody seems to care.
"Although I am not in a position to speak for the management, it is obvious that we are on our own because I am aware that the attention of our headquarters and even the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the numerous problems we are facing in this dungeon called an office."
When taken up on the matter, the NDLEA Commander in the State, Mr Nicholas Walter, said the "very lean purse" of the Command was reason for the wretched look of the complex. He said that past appeals for help had drawn little positive response.
"What we have been doing is to seek support form within to enable us serve the society better. In Rivers State, we have made several attempts at meeting with the state government, the NDDC and other corporate organizations with little result."
Walter, a lawyer, said the major hindrance has been that most organizations approached for assistance see the outfit as a Federal Agency that must be strictly funded by the Federal Government. He faulted this line of thought and attitude because "more than 80 per cent" of the NDLEA operations affect those in the states.
"The effect of our job is on the ordinary citizens of the state. If there is decrease in crime rate, it is for the good of the sates. The rate of crime is on the increase in some of these states because the drug rate is high and until you tackle the drug issue, the problem will continue." Walter, who is the 16th NDLEA commander in the state, urged the state and local governments, corporate bodies and the people, to see the agency's job as basically in the interest of the people and lend their support.
However, the Commander commended Governor Peter Odili for coming to the rescue some time ago with a few vehicles. He said the agency could do with more vehicles and other logistics, including residential quarters for its officers, "who are almost living on the streets for lack of accommodation". He stressed that only the combined efforts of one and all can stem the worrisome high tide of hard drug use in the state.