Gboyega Akinsanmi
30 November 2008
analysis
Lagos — Cases of drug trafficking are rampant in Nigeria. Unemployment, impoverishment and the general socio-economic malaise have been identified as the causes of the illicit trade. Working in partnership with the Federal Government and the British High Commission in Nigeria, Hibiscus London last week kicked off an anti-drug trafficking campaign in Lagos. It is aimed at creating anti-drug trafficking awareness.
Comrade Wale Aribatise was a student activist, but he has now become a pastor, and is currently working with a non-governmental organisation in Lagos with a passion to fight social ills. Just a decade ago, he was walking on the street of Lagos in the night when some policemen arrested and detained him for no specific offence other than what he claimed the officers called wandering.
On that fateful day, Aribatise left office late and could not get a bus going his direction. He eventually chose to walk home rather than wasting time at the bus stop. He had not walked far when the policemen from Ikoyi Police Station arrested him for alleged wandering, even when he showed them all his particulars that could assist the officers in further investigation of his personality.
A lawyer by training, Aribatise had already resigned to fate wondering why he was detained unlawfully and without legal justification. He was hoping for divine intervention when a young rich man approached him, promising to hire a legal practitioner to plead his case before the court and secure him freedom. He was assured of all legal assistance and financial aid he might need to be off the hook.
But the assistance was not without a cost. The young rich man gave some conditions that Aribatise needed to meet to attract the favour. Aribatise was only assured of all the assistance on the condition that he obliged to travel to the United Kingdom to represent the man and return home within one week, but with promises that he too would become a wealthy man when he returned. He was told he would meet a Volkswagen car at the back of his rented apartment.
He rejected the offer and chose to remain in detention. After spending few days in detention, Aribatise was transferred to prison. To his amazement, the man traced him to Ikoyi Prison where he claimed he was without definite offences apart from allegation of unlawful wandering for which he was arrested. He was again offered financial and legal assistance on the same condition.
He rejected the offer because he claimed it was against his moral values, questioning how he would become a wealthy person by just going to the UK to deliver message and come back. The man, whom Aribatise described as a hardline drug baron, went away and refused to approach again having seen his determination not to accede to stipulated conditions and promises.
Now a pastor and a social worker, Aribatise gave this testimony last week at the relaunch of National Anti-Drug Trafficking Campaign held in Lagos. Giving his encounter with policemen few years back, he concluded that anti-drug officers and other security operatives are aiding and abetting drug barons in Nigeria, and asked the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to look inward and ensure strict disciplinary measures against all erring officers.
The relaunch marked a new development in the anti-drug trafficking war for its focus on public awareness, mass education, grassroot advocacy and value re-orientation fresh from the ailing option of arrest and prosecution, which social workers and the media believed, has yielded desired result; neither has it deterred drug traffickers, barons and intending ones from engaging in the drug business.
The relaunch was a success, giving anti-drug agencies, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups and the media the opportunity to discus the drug issues. Hibiscus London initiated the relaunch, although it partnered the Federal Government and the British High Commission in Nigeria to devise an effective tool of anti-drug war. It commenced the campaign in 2006 with a goal to change attitude and re-orientate drug traffickers and young people who may be attracted into the drug business on the question of money.
His encounter indeed explains realities in the anti-drug war. He recognised how weak security institutions, worsening economic crisis, collapsed value system and culture of compromised leadership have weakened the anti-drug campaign in Nigeria. "But the truth remains: most drug barons are getting backing and support from the law enforcement agencies, and this trend has given the traffickers a resilient spirit to continue this illicit deals against the law.
"There are bad eggs in the anti-drug agency, and they are compromising both domestic and international legal standard. This is a conspiracy against the state and its institutions. It is denting the image of Nigeria around the world, and costing thousands of integrity-conscious Nigerians all manners of embarrassment in various developed countries. I am not sure if NDLEA has discovered. If it has not, its leadership should start looking inward to ensure sanity," he said.
The account of Aribatise indeed brought a new dimension to the anti-drug campaign, and this propelled Nigeria's anti-drug communities to dissect the role of NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies in the war against drug barons and traffickers. There seems to be consensus among the civil society groups that NDLEA, Custom and Immigration Services "have not been doing enough to make Nigeria difficult for hard drugs and their pushers.
But speaking strictly for NDLEA, Dr. Baba Hussein, Director of Operations, disagreed with this line of thought. He scored the anti-drug agency relatively high, but identified short-term jail terms and god-fatherism as key factors sabotaging the war against drug barons and traffickers. For Hussein, it is not good enough to blame NDLEA for the challenges of drug trafficking. At least, the agency is fighting the anti-drug war hard.
He cited different cases the agencies had investigated and prosecuted with tremendous success. He also gave the agency pass mark in tracking down drug traffickers in different parts of the country. Indeed, Hussein said the agency "has been discharging its primary responsibilities amid teeming challenges. At least, NDLEA has been performing relatively well given its recent records. Civil society is not ignorant of the landmark success the agency has made."
Hussein agreed that NDLEA still "has a lot of work to do." He assured the civil society groups that the leadership of NDLEA "is committed to fighting this social ill aground in Nigeria." But Hussein identified funding as a key factor hindering the agency from doing much. He gave example of a radio programme NDLEA was doing few months back. "The programme had a lot of impact, but we had to stop it when airtime we paid elapsed, and the National Assembly has to approve another fund to continue that kind of radio programme.
"We do nothing on our own. We deal with the National Assembly. So, we only discharge our responsibilities based on the approval for the agency. This is a major challenge NDLEA is (and has been) facing, even though it might be correct that there are some bad eggs in the law enforcement agencies that give support to drug barons and traffickers. Indeed, NDLEA has fought a good anti-drug war, but it deserves support from civil society groups and the media," he explained.
More disturbing is the issue of short-jail term given convicted barons and traffickers. It is another challenge Hussein said NDLEA could not avert because the agency was established primarily to track down drug barons and traffickers, investigate drug-related cases and prosecute if there are hard and evidential facts to that effect. He explained that NDLEA had no time over the specific jail term a convict deserves for it "is purely a question of law interpretation.
"There is nothing we can do about that. We are not the judges who determined those cases on the point of law. The judges have the final say about the jail term a drug convict deserves. The judges too determine these cases based on constitutional provisions and NDLEA Act. NDLEA charges drug barons, but the courts determine the charges brought against the barons and mete out punitive measures in reference to relevant laws. This is how we carry our duties," he added.
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