Posted by By DIPO KEHINDE on
Narcotic drugs flooding European countries from Nigeria has increased by 600 per cent in the last one year, the new chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Ahmadu Giade said in Lagos Wednesday.
Narcotic drugs flooding European countries from Nigeria has increased by 600 per cent in the last one year, the new chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Ahmadu Giade said in Lagos Wednesday.
As he announced a renewal of the war against drug trafficking during his maiden press briefing, Giade said the international community was worried about the development, and he promised that he would not only stem the tide but arrest the seemingly untouchable drug barons.
Describing the development as an ugly trend, Giade said: "The present rating of Nigeria in its counter-narcotic efforts is not enviable. There is an escalation in the rate of illicit drug trafficking and abuse. The mandate, therefore, is to halt this escalation within the shortest time possible.
"We are poised to reverse the ugly trend and ensure that the agency's mission statement of effectively suppressing both supply of and demand for drugs is achievable."
Explaining why he quickly had a tour of all NDLEA strategic formations on assumption of duty, Giade said he had to check all the exit points because the international community was waiting to see a definite change, "and we have to brace up to this challenge."
The chairman, however, cleared the name of his predecessor in office, Alhaji Bello Lafiaji, saying: "No financial scandal was attributable to the old executive after we had looked into the books."
Giade was celebrated at the event as a man who once handled failed banks as a Deputy Commissioner of Police and single-handedly disarmed an armed robber in 1964.
When he was asked why NDLEA officers could not arrest drug barons, he made a promise to catch some of them soon, as he pointed out that drugs remain the nation's enemy number one because four out of every five criminals are hooked on drugs.
He added that drug proceeds destroy the financial system and economy, as he presented what he called a six-point strategic core value system.
He listed the agenda as; "Passionate and patriotic commitment to the mission statement of the agency; demonstrable competence, operational effectiveness and efficiency; team work; discipline, honesty, transparency, loyalty and integrity; making the agency sensitive to public perception and turning it into one big family."