The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is seeking collaboration with the Nigerian Army in the area of training and for professional support to boost the fight against drug abuse, illicit drugs and drug trafficking in the country.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa, stated this on Wednesday when he visited the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.
He explained that the fight against drug abuse, like other enforcement campaigns, needed further training of NDLEA personnel to enhance operational efficiency.
The NDLEA boss attributed most crimes in the country to drug abuse, adding that over 15 million Nigerians – between the age of 16 and 64 – indulge in the use of illicit drugs.
According to him, there is a nexus between drug abuse and criminality as a result of irrational behaviour associated with illicit drugs.
Marwa believes criminals such as kidnappers, terrorists, and bandits among others perpetrate their evil acts under the influence of drugs.
He was hopeful that if the menace of drug abuse was checked, the crime rate in Nigeria would drop.
The former military administrator of Borno and Lagos States also congratulated the army chief on his appointment and subsequent promotion to the rank of a lieutenant general.
In his response, Attahiru thanked Marwa for the visit and affirmed that the collaboration between the army and NDLEA would give the fight against use and trafficking of illicit drugs a definitive boost.
He also promised that the army, under his leadership, would be committed to assisting and collaborating with the NDLEA to achieve the noble objectives.
The Commandant of Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Air Vice Marshal Ebenezer Alade, also visited the army chief at the Army Headquarters.
He said he was at the Army Headquarters to brief Attahiru on the activities of the College since his assumption of command as the 24th commandant.
Alade noted that the institution recently acquired simulation hardware to improve information technology-based study designed to put the institution on the global map.
The army chief, in his response, assured the commandant and his team of robust synergy and cooperation.