The United States government has announced a project that will strengthen the forensic and chemical analysis capacity of Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as well as its intelligence gathering and prosecution capabilities.

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the latest support from the U.S. Department of States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) comes on the heels of an award of N500 million grant to fund selected projects in the agency by the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative (ASR Africa).

According to an official letter announcing the U.S. project grant to the NDLEA, the award followed requests by the chairman/chief executive officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), during a series of meetings with top U.S. officials both in Abuja and in Washington DC.

The letter noted that the project will be implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Nigeria.

The NDLEA also said aside from the support for the forensic and chemical analysis capacity of the agency, the U.S. government also said the project will further support NDLEA efforts to conduct intelligence-led investigations through diverse resources as well as legal books and an e-library for prosecution and other legal needs of the agency.

Part of the letter reads: "through all these, the NDLEA will be better equipped to prosecute cases with reliable evidence, using improved collection, handling, and custodial procedures.

"We appreciate our strong and continued working relationship and believe this project will be an important step in advancing our shared goal of a united, peaceful, and stable Nigeria."