The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) wants a minimum of 15 years, maximum of 25 years, and life sentences for any Nigerian caught dealing in illicit drugs.
Chairman of the agency Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.) stated this to State House correspondents on Thursday during the ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications team at the Presidential Villa.
The agency chairman at the gathering openly accused politicians of being involved in illegal drug deals.
Marwa disclosed the worth of drugs retrieved from barons to be over N100 billion, saying the amount has been remitted into the federation account.
According to him, from January 25, 2021, to date, operatives of the agency have seized more than 2.7 million kilogrammes of illicit drugs. He also revealed that 14.4 million Nigerians are currently under the influence of illegal drugs.
The chairman put the number of drug-related offences filed in court at over 5,000. These involved 9,355 arrested traffickers and six drug barons.
Marwa added that NDLEA had rehabilitated 5,579 drug users, with 20 per cent of these being serious addicts.
“To complete the overhaul process, we have invigorated the process of amending the NDLEA Act, to provide a more robust legal framework to deal with current drug trafficking and abuse challenges.
“As a matter of necessity, we have also had to scale up our workforce by resuming the suspended 2019 recruitment and training of 5,000 operatives, with more to join in the months ahead. Once the process is completed, the agency’s workforce will have doubled by 200 per cent by mid-2022,” Marwa said.