A whopping 577 drug suspects were arrested by the Lagos and Murtala Muhammed Airport Commands of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in 2015.
The Lagos state commander of the NDLEA, liyu Sule, and his airport command counterpart, Garba Ahmadu, announced the results of their year’s work yesterday.
According to the commanders, 438 drug suspects were apprehended by the Lagos command, while the airport command apprehended 139 suspects.
Sule said that more than seven tonnes of drugs was seized in 2015.
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He said that the police seized 7310 kg of cannabis, 413.5 grams of heroin, while 480 grams of cannabis sativa was seized.
Sule said that the amount of drugs seized 2015 dropped compared to previous years due to proactive measures put in place by the command to monitor and apprehend drug suspects at their hideouts.
He appealed to the Nigerian public to cooperate with the NDLEA, saying that the war against drug trafficking is a collective responsibility.
For his part, Ahmadu, said out of the 139 suspects apprehended by men of his command, 119 were male while 20 were female.
Ahmadu said that in comparison, the number of suspects arrested in 2014 was 129.
He attributed the increase in 2015 to improved training and increased awareness.
According to him, the command made a seizure of 590.9 kilograms of illicit drugs in 2015, and had 155 cases pending before the Federal High Court, with 17 convictions already recorded.
Ahmadu said traffickers were arrested concealing drugs in bags, shoes, needles and tomato paste, amongst other items.
He also said his agency is ready to foil the nefarious activities of drug traffickers to protect Nigeria’s image abroad.
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