The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has linked drug abuse to the surge in kidnapping, banditry, and other crimes that have engulfed the country, saying drug abuse is responsible for 90 per cent of the crime in the country.
Mohammed Buba Marwa, the NDLEA chairman noted that tackle crime effectively will require controlling the rate of drug abuse in the country.
He made this assertion on Monday while addressing officers at Onne seaport in Rivers state.
“90% of all criminalities in Nigeria today ranging from banditry, insurgency, kidnapping, rape, and others is linked to the use of illicit drugs.
“Nobody in his right sense will take up arms to kidnap, rape, and kill innocent people. Therefore, if we are able to tackle the issue of drug abuse, most of the security challenges the nation is facing now would have been solved. We also need to take this war as a battle to save our children and women, and ultimately our society and the country at large,” he said.
He further charged the officers to be vigilant and ensure no drug is successfully shipped in or out of the country.
“No drug goes out or comes in through Onne seaport because any little drug that escapes into the society can do great damage to our families and our country as a whole.
“We need to secure our country from the menace of drug abuse by working together. For us in the new NDLEA, this is a fight to finish, we can’t allow this country to be destroyed by criminalities. All those involved in this criminal act must be fished out and punished,” he said.
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