Ilorin, June 20, 2022 -The Kwara Command of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested 225 suspected drug traffickers and seized 809,200 kilogrammes of illicit drugs between January and June this year.
Odewale Adebimpe, the Acting State Commander of the agency, disclosed this while addressing newsmen on the 2023 United Nations Drug Free Day in Ilorin on Tuesday.
She said the command secured 57 convictions, counselled 99 inmates while 39 cases were still pending in the court during the period.
Odewale said the slow pace of criminal justice and reluctance of some judicial officers to visit the full wrath of the law on offenders was a setback in countering narcotics in the country.
She expressed worry over the involvement of students of higher institutions in drug abuse.
Odewale said the command was conducting intelligence-led operational activities to reverse the trend in addition to various advocacy and enlightenment measures put in place.
She called on the state government and other stakeholders to support the agency to enable it to reduce drug abuse and trafficking to the minimum.
Mrs Barakat Olanrewaju, the Chairperson of Kwara Drug Control Committee, called for collaboration of all stakeholders in the fight against drug abuse.
She appealed to parents to take interest in the activities of their children to prevent them from joining bad groups.
Olanrewaju said that the committee was working with the state Ministry of Education to ban all shops that were selling alcoholic drinks by school gates.
She alleged that they were the ones selling hard drugs to the students.
