THIRTY-FIVE officers of the Marine Command and Seaports Operations of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been trained by the United Kingdom (UK) Home Office International Operations (HOIO).
This was disclosed in a statement by the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Saturday, March 25.
Babafemi said five of the officers, including the first female coxswain, were currently undergoing a two-week Maritime Patrol and Tactical Coxswain training by the UK’s Central Maritime Training Unit in Southampton, UK.
The training is to enable the officers plan maritime deployments, pursue, and take over vessels on high seas.
“The trainings, according to the HOIO, are to enhance the border control capabilities of the NDLEA by providing specialised training, mentoring and advanced drug detection equipment.
“Key areas covered so far include: boat handling, weapons handling, riverine operations, boarding and vessel search, among many others. Some of the trainings have been facilitated by the British Military, Nigerian Navy and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) under the Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP),” Babafemi noted.
According to the statement, Chairman of the NDLEA Buba Marwa urged officers to reflect lessons learnt from the training in their work and share with colleagues.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.