By 
National Drugs Law and Enforcement Agency, NDLEA’s chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd) has said drug barons were assassinating operatives of the agency in the renewed fight against drug abuse in the country.
Marwa said this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee of Drugs and Narcotics.
He was in parliament to defend the agency’s 2022 budget performance and 2023 proposal on Thursday in Abuja. Against this background, he emphasized the need for the urgent provision of barracks for operatives of the agency.
“The barracks issue is very critical to us because as we all know the NDLEA is very aggressive now against drug traffickers and the drug barons. When you arrest and prosecute them and send them to jail, they are not happy. So, they come after our personnel and with our personnel living in the town and cities and among them; we have been recording casualties and assassinations against them,” he said.
He said with the approval of the President; NDLEA was in the process of building barracks for its personnel for the first time.
He said it was also in the process of building three rehabilitation centres; two forensic laboratories, and procurement of security equipment.
He said the agency had concluded the acquisition of land in Adamawa, Abuja and Lagos State for the barracks; adding that the Private Public Partnership process was rounding off.
Marwa also said there was also a need to enhance the purchase of more arms and ammunition for the agency.
“We need to be fully armed with modern weapons that would outmatch that of the cartels; especially as we go after them in the deep forests,” he said.
He said N24billion was allocated to the barracks project in the 2022 budget; even as he rued that it had been slashed to N13billion in the 2023 budget proposal.
He called for an additional N10 billion for the projects.
Comments