The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has set up a special task force to track down and dismantle drug syndicates responsible for the production and distribution of methamphetamine, popularly called Mkpurumiri in the South East region of the country.
This was made known on Monday by the Chairman/Chief Executive, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd.) during a press briefing to mark his first year anniversary in charge of the Agency.
According to Marwa, the decision to set up the task force was because Mkpurumiri was being abused by youths in different parts of the country, especially in the South-East.
He said, “We have the preponderance of drug dealers from the South-East, but what more do you have? The greatest efforts by communities to rid the country and their communities of drug use are from the South East. Clearly, in the same South-East, they are doing two things; first, they are telling their fellow travellers, who are not decent, that look ‘you are the very few who are spoiling our names here. Stop it!’
“And more importantly, they are ridding their communities of drug abuse; they have taken ownership of the war themselves against drug abuse, especially the Mkpurumiri. By the way, we have set up a special task force to face the challenge and very soon, you will hear and see the result of our efforts.”
He urged other communities across the nation to set up war against drug abuse, just like in the South-East.
Marwa however said that the Agency is not in support of flogging of culprits and other human rights abuses but will provide assistance such as counselling and treatment of drug addicts.
The NDLEA Chairman attributed the successes achieved in the war against drugs to God, support of President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly and other stakeholders including international partners such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), European Union (EU), foreign governments, amongst others.
Marwa said NDLEA arrested 12,306 suspects, seized drugs and cash worth over N130 billion and counselled and rehabilitated 7,761 drugs users in 2021.