15 November 2008
Lagos — Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, has said the agency arrested 42,140 suspected drug traffickers in the last 17 years.
Giade gave the figure at this year's Commanders' Meeting on Drug Demand Reduction in Jos, Plateau State.
He said out of the number, 39,419 were males, while 2, 721 were females, while 12,481 traffickers were convicted.
The chairman also said that illicit drugs weighing 2.18 million kilogramme were seized within the same period.
According to him, cannabis, also known as Indian hemp, constituted the largest seizure of 2.15 million kilogrammes.
The NDLEA boss said 18,304 kilogrammes of cocaine and 10,006 kilogrammes of other psychotropic substances were also seized.
Giade disclosed that, 2,700 kilogrammes of heroin was also seized during the period.
"The implication of these statistics is that money that would have been used to develop the economy through activities of entrepreneurs and the organised private sector is illegally injected into the drug trade.
"Besides, a good number of the work force is also lost to either drug addiction or drug conviction", he said.
Giade said efforts would be intensified this year to reduce the problem of drugs in a bid to free humanity from the threat posed by illicit drugs.
The NDLEA chairman said the Jos meeting would flag off an intensive nationwide drug enlightenment campaign.
He further disclosed that the agency would, in the next few weeks, embark on a tour of the six geopolitical zones to create awareness among Nigerians on the need to stay off drugs.
Target groups for the campaign, he said, would include students, market women, NURTW members and the general public.
The campaign, he said is with the theme: "Say No to Drug Cultivation, Trafficking and Abuse".
Giade also said the root cause of the illicit drug trade was demand, adding that drugs were smuggled because there was a market which was driven by demand. "If there is no demand for drugs, the global drug trade will collapse as both the traffickers and producers will naturally quit the obnoxious trade",he said.
Earlier, Governor Jonah Jang said the state government was committed to the fight against narcotics.
Jang, who was represented by his Deputy, Mrs Pauline Tallen, enjoined the NDLEA to map out new strategies to stop the activities of drug traffickers.
He challenged the agency to re-strategise and reposition the nation by taking her off the world's drug major list.
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