420 drug suspects arrested, 69 convicted in Lagos

Four hundred and twenty suspected drug traffickers were arrested by the Lagos State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency over the past 10 months. Within the same period, 69 persons were convicted by various courts for drug related charges.

In a statement by the NDLEA Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, on Tuesday, the agency added that other cases were still pending in court. NDLEA Lagos commander, Mr. Aliyu Sule, described drug abuse in Lagos as alarming.

Sule said, "Between the months of January and October, the command arrested 420 drug traffickers comprising 387 males and 33 females. A total of 8,300.277kg of drugs were also seized. The drugs included 8,186.320kg of cannabis, psychotropic substances 73.450kg, methamphetamine 34.016kg, heroin 4.688kg and cocaine 1.803kg."

He also thanked the Nigerian Army for its collaboration with the agency.

He added, "Within the period under review, we have had two successful joint operations with the military. The first raid carried out in June 2013, led to the seizure of 3,166.15kg and the arrests of 47 suspects. Another raid in November led to the arrest of 15 suspects with 680.266kg of narcotic drugs mostly cannabis."

NDLEA Chairman Ahmadu Giade called for the assistance of government and private sector in finding a lasting solution to drug abuse.

He said, "We need the support of the government and private sector in the construction of an ultra-modern rehabilitation centre in Lagos. This is needed to effectively address the problem of drug abuse in the state. Parents should also pay more attention to their wards and inculcate discipline in them."