By Steve Agbota
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Apapa Strategic Seaport Command, on Thursday, said that it intercepted 14 containers with different types of psychotropic drugs between June 2024 and June 2025.
Notable among the drugs seized by the command are 774,635 bottles of codeine-based syrups and 36,652,460 tablets of Tramadol with a gross weight of 131,920.7 kilograms, approximately 132 tonnes.
The Assistant Commander General of Narcotics, Buba Wakawa, disclosed this on the occasion of the joint grand finale by Apapa and Tin Can Strategic Seaport Commands’ commemoration of the 2025 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking with the theme “Evidence Is Clear: Invest In Prevention, Break The Cycle,” held in Apapa, Lagos.
He said every June 25 is a day set aside by the United Nations to create awareness of the dangers of drug abuse and illicit trafficking and its rippling effects on the health, economy, and security of society.
However, he mentioned that the 2018 UN Drugs Survey puts an estimated 14.3 million Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 64 years who had used drugs in the preceding years, saying there is no clearer evidence of the drug epidemic than this.
He added that the theme for 2025 is apt as it is in tandem with the objectives of the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, a brainchild of the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Buba Marwa.
“We are not unmindful that the maritime sector is a major global source of wealth and revenue generation for every nation, as well as a veritable means of bulky transportation of goods and services, but we must secure the process from unscrupulous elements taking control and turning it into a safe haven for the illicit drugs business.
“The illicit drug import and export distribution network must be broken. Painfully, psychotropic substances of abuse such as Tramadol and cough syrups with codeine that were medically produced to treat and remedy health issues have been turned into recreational drugs to get high, enhance performance, and social pleasure without medical reason. We will not tolerate this in the maritime corridors,” he said.
According to him, today’s event is an extension of NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) aimed at taking the message to the doorsteps of the maritime community and the most vulnerable segment of society, school children and youths.
“The objectives of this engagement are to bring together a broad spectrum of society, the schools and students, regulatory government and sister security agencies, terminal operators, and stakeholders in unionism of one voice against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking,” he said.
He said no one is insulated from the menace of the prevailing general insecurity triggered by the availability and use of illicit drugs.
“We have one common enemy, the drug dealers and peddlers who are ever ready to break the law for wealth, create the monster of insecurity, and jeopardise the entire health of the nation. The cycle can be broken, and together, we can make it happen,” he said.