The Federal Government has called for a well-coordinated international
cooperation to tackle the links between drug trafficking and all forms
of organised crime, like terrorism.
The Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) retired Brig.
Gen. Buba Marwa said this at the ongoing 64th session of the Commission
on Narcotic Drugs, (CND), holding in Vienna, Austria.
In a statement by the agency’s Director Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi
Babafemi, on Monday, in Abuja, Marwa presented this as one of Nigeria’s
demands to a global audience.
According to him, Nigeria would welcome robust international
cooperation, to address the links between drug trafficking and
terrorism, illicit financial flows, smuggling of migrants and other
forms of organised crime.
“We underscore the importance of technical assistance by United Nations
on Drug and Crime (UNODC), which has greatly assisted practitioners of
beneficiary countries.
“And this positively impacted on global efforts to counter and address
the world drug problem, and we urge for their continuation, ” he said.
Marwa explained that Nigeria had continued to adapt her drug control
policies and strategies to respond to emerging and evolving realities.
The NDLEA boss lamented that despite the implementation of the framework
and strategic Action Plan, trafficking and abuse of controlled
substances had persisted.
“First, the cultivation and high traffic of cannabis and its abuse has
been on the increase. Our National Drug Use Survey, 2019, revealed that
over 10 million persons abused cannabis in one year.
“In a similar pattern, the 2019 and 2020 World Drug Reports identified
cannabis as the most abused substance with its threat to security,
health and wellbeing of the global population.
“Second, the trafficking and non-medical use of synthetic and
pharmaceutical opioids, especially Tramadol, remains a challenge.
“This is in spite of our domestic control efforts, as well as two
tripartite meetings, facilitated by UNODC, involving Nigeria, Ghana and
India, held in New Delhi and Lagos in 2019, to address the Tramadol
crisis,” he said
Marwa reiterated that legalisation of the illicit use of cannabis was a
violation of the Drug Control Treaties, while highlighting the urgent
need for change in the control measures for Tramadol and other
pharmaceuticals.
He added that Nigeria had decentralised the storage of finished narcotic
drugs to ensure their access, availability and affordability for medical
and scientific use.
As a result, he added, NDLEA, was now able to optimise data collection
and improve statutory submission of annual requirements to the
International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) .
”This is with the launch, in 2020, of the national
quantification/estimation survey, conducted in 2017 and 2019
respectively.
“We are also on course to start local manufacturing of narcotic
medicines from two WHO-prequalified pharmaceutical manufacturers, to
ensure availability and meet national needs, ” he said. (NAN).