Senate narcotics committee pledges legislative backing for NDLEA’s drug war

From Godwin Tsa Abuja

The Senate Committee on Drugs and Narcotics has pledged full legislative support to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in its sustained campaign against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking across Nigeria.

The commitment was made on Monday when the newly appointed chairman of the committee, Senator Joseph Igiagbe Ikpea, visited the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd) at the agency’s national headquarters in Abuja.

Senator Ikpea, who represents Edo Central, said he made the visit to establish a working partnership with the agency and expressed enthusiasm at the prospect of collaborating with Marwa, citing the NDLEA boss’s distinguished record of public service.

“I have heard so many positive things about you as a sincere, straightforward, passionate and committed person,  especially your achievements as Military Governor of the old Borno State and Military Administrator of Lagos State, as well as your current engagement as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA where you are also making great impacts,” the senator said.

Ikpea identified rehabilitation of drug-dependent Nigerians and prevention through mass awareness and sensitisation programmes as priority areas for the committee’s engagement with the agency. He also promised legislative action to strengthen the legal framework for combating the drug problem.

“We will partner with you through legislative support and necessary laws to subdue the drug problem in our country,” he said.

Responding, Marwa thanked the senator for the visit and assured the committee of the agency’s readiness to work with it. He congratulated Ikpea on his appointment, saying it was a reflection of his personal integrity and track records.

The NDLEA chief acknowledged the drug problem as a root cause of several social challenges, not only in Nigeria but globally, while noting that the agency was recording significant progress on multiple fronts.

“We are doing our level best to curb the scourge and we are getting impressive results, including the dismantling of major transnational drug cartels, arrest of high-profile barons and weakening their financial base through the seizure and forfeiture of their assets,” Marwa said.

He attributed the agency’s achievements to the support of President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly committees in both chambers and the judiciary, stressing that such collaboration remained indispensable to sustaining the gains recorded so far.

Marwa assured the senator that the NDLEA would remain proactive in both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts nationwide and expressed optimism that the new committee chairman would distinguish himself in the role.