THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it arrested 12,061 drug traffickers between January and November 2023.
The anti-drug trafficking agency also stated that it secured 3,132 convictions within the period.
These figures were contained in data mailed to The ICIR by the agency on Friday, December 29, by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
According to the data, 10,903 males and 1,153 females were arrested.
On the agency’s plans for 2024, Babafemi said NDLEA was gearing up to step up the fight against illicit drugs.
According to him, in a new year message of the agency’s chairman, Buba Marwa, as 2024 beckons, “the offensive action and heat on drug barons and cartels will be intensified to dismantle their criminal networks in Nigeria with a view to crippling their capacity to produce, smuggle in or traffick illicit substances in our country.
“On the flip side, it’s also a year that we also intensify our War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaigns using all available tools and platforms to raise awareness about the twin monster of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking, thereby cutting down on drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction simultaneously.”
He urged Nigerians to cooperate with NDLEA to safeguard the nation and ensure a drug-free future for the country.
Previous data
In data obtained from the agency in early October 2023, the NDLEA said it arrested 8,561 drug traffickers between January and August 2023.
It said it also seized 888,743 drugs and secured 2,224 convictions.
According to the data, 1,985 males and 239 females were convicted.
Also, in December 2022, the NDLEA arrested 23,907 traffickers and seized drugs worth over N450 billion within 22 months.
The NDLEA said the arrest and seizure took place between January 2021 to October 2022
Its chairman, Marwa, disclosed these details in Abuja on Tuesday, December 20, 2022.
NDLEA expressed concern over drug use among women
The latest records on drug use by the NDLEA show that one in four drug abusers in the country is a woman.
The Ogun state commander of the NDLEA, Ibiba Odili, stated this during the war against drug abuse launch in collaboration with Lions Club International in Abeokuta.
The official revealed that 14.3 million Nigerian drug abusers are 15 to 64 years old, adding that more women are now involved.
“One out of every four drug users is a woman. In 2018, data shows that more women are going into drug use. If more women are going into drug use, it is a source of worry for us because it means that the traditional role of women in families and communities as caregivers, role models, and life moulders will be threatened because what quality of children are these women going to raise,?” she said.
Agency warns parents on youths hiding illicit drugs in fancy bottles
In November, NDLEA advised parents to keep watch on little, fancy bottles in their children’s pockets or purses.
It made this known in a statement shared on its X handle on Sunday, November 19.
The NDLEA explained that fancy bottles were being used for packaging a drug called Loud/Colos, which is popular among young people in Lagos’ affluent neighbourhoods of Lekki, Ikoyi, and Victoria Island.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance