President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmed Lawan, has alleged that drug barons in the country are responsible for funding terrorism and banditry. Lawan made this allegation when the recently appointed chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mohammed Buba Marwa paid him a courtesy call yesterday in his office. The Senate president alleges that proceeds from the illegal drugs trade are used in exchange for arms and ammunition by terrorist groups like Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers.
He stated that, “I believe that this agency needs restructuring now that you’ve taken over.
“My personal opinion is that NDLEA should be in the league of EFCC, ICPC, and therefore, the kind of support that those two agencies I mentioned receive, you should receive something like that.
The senate president promised, Mr Marwa, sayingthat “ the National Assembly will definitely work with you and will ensure that we do our best to give you the kind of support that’ll enable you properly to discharge your mandate.
He revealed that “Drug peddlers pass their drugs – cannabis, heroin, and possibly even cocaine through Nigeria.
“We believe that this has to stop because the proceeds of such activities fund terrorism, they fund banditry, you wonder how the bandits have RPGs and these massive arms that they’ve.
He, therefore, concluded that the calibre of sophistication in the arms the terrorist and the bandits are brandishing cannot be procured if not by the barons for them.
