Nigeria: NDLEA clamour for community support in curbing drug abuse

By Teslim Olawore

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Friday said that the support of communities would be needed in order to succeed in its bid to get rid of drug abuse in the Federal Capital territory (FCT). Represented by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NDLEA FCT Command, Mr Peter Adegbe, in a meeting with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, yesterday said that stronger collaboration between NDLEA and the community would bring the desired result in the fight.

In his words, “I want to urge the community to help in the campaign against drug abuse by giving information that will help our operations at various black spots.” “The community needs to understand that without their support, the NDLEA will not only fail to deliver but also the society will be in danger.’’ Adegbe said that drug abuse leads to all forms of social vices and must be tackled collectively. According to him, the NDLEA has embarked on occasional sensitisation programmes on the dangers of drug abuse in the communities. “A lot of people ran away and we saw most of them entering shops around the place.”

“The community must come forward with information; they must not keep quiet and withhold tangible information.” According to him, without strong partnership with the community, the efforts of the NDLEA will be fruitless. “I appeal  to residents of the FCT to join hands with the NDLEA in ensuring a responsible society devoid of social vices.”

“The public needs to understand that they should also support the NDLEA in tackling this drug menace.” The spokesman said the command would not relent in its efforts to clean the FCT of hard drugs, adding that continuous campaign would be conducted. He urged Nigerians, most especially parents and guardians, to pay adequate attention to their wards and youths, describing them as vulnerable groups.