Feb. 5, 2018
By Ijendu Iheaka
The
Abia State Commander, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr
Akingbade Bamidele has said that the agency under his watch intercepted
and confiscated over 3 tonnes of drugs between 2015 and 2017.
Bamidele disclosed this in Aba on Monday
during a media briefing on its 2017 score-card for 2017 in his Ogbor-Hill
office.
He said that the office at the
moment had over 6 tonnes of psychotropic substances it intercepted and seized
from drug peddlers and barons in Abia state which would be destroyed publicly
soon.
The State Commander said that although
the agency’s war against hard drugs was in progress in Abia, the barons were
not giving up establishing new drug hot spots.
He said that the newest hot spot
established inside Ahia-Ohuru market, Aba was disturbing because it had become
a spot for raping women, stealing bags, phones and hard drug consumption in West Africa's largest textile market.
Bamidele however said the agency was
capable of containing the hard drug sales spread in the market adding that they
were talking with the market leaders for a lasting solution.
He also said that the agency in 2017
visited 49 schools in the state to train Youth Corp members for the job of
establishing Drug-Free Clubs to assist in the fight against the spread of hard drug usage in Abia.
He further said “We had a total of
825 kg of illicit drugs. 324 persons were arrested within this period
comprising 304 males and 20 female suspects.
“We had 53 convictions while the
rest were either released or on-going cases at Umuahia Federal High Court.
“Through our Drug Demand Reduction
(DDRD), we rehabilitated 24 persons while those arrested at the joints were
briefly counseled.
“We intensified our motorized patrols through
which we intercepted and recovered two vehicles one in Aba and one in Umuahia
where cannabis was concealed.
“At our Milverton-York outpost, we
were able to arrest a consignment sent from Lagos with heroin concealed inside
a DVD player.
“We also seized 50 pieces of
“Senators” designer clothes fitted with large buttons filled with heroin, the
case is on trial now. We also seized a water dispenser coming from abroad which
had drugs in it” he said.
He said that in a raid at Arochukwu,
and Okon in Ohafia LGAs, 4 guns were seized from drug barons while some of them
were arrested.
The Commander said that if the
command was able to achieve that much with a single van, it would do better
when given more vans with security equipment.
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