National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier General Mohammad Buba Marwa (retired).
..Says 30 arrests made in May-June
The Commander, Murtala Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Command, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Ahmadu Garba has said that the Award and individual recognition given to the command and its personnel for four consecutive months by the Headquarters of the anti narcotics Agency has boosted the morale of personnel as they now compete to make arrests in the Command.
Garba also told aviation journalists on Thursday that NDLEA’S operatives in the Command have arrested about 30 suspected drug traffickers in the months of May and June , 2021.
It would be recalled that the command won awards for Most Outstanding Command by NDLEA for its due diligence and the excellent performance of its officers, four consecutive times, January to April, 2021
The Award was initiated by the current Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier Buba Marwa (retred) to encourage commands and personnel in their mandate to checkmate drug trafficking and abuses in the country.
The Assistant Commander-General of Narcotics (ACGN) said the arrests were made at the international wing terminal and the cargo areas of the airport through intelligence gathering of his personnel.
He said: “We won the award for the Most Outstanding Command in Nigeria for the months of January to April. The award is given every two month and we are still hopeful that we will win the next one for the months of May and June.’
Explaining the criteria considered before given the award Garba said “There are so many things used by the NDLEA and I am not part of the selection team. Probably they look at the number of arrests by a command, nature of some of the cases. It is on record that officers were offered the sum of $24,500 by some of the barons within the period, but they rejected it.
“There was another case they wanted to compromise the officers. Also, a number of our cases are going for prosecution. There is a team that is in charge of this award. For the months of May and June, we have made more than 30 arrests at the airport and the cargo areas alone.
“The good thing is that the awards have gingered the officers in the command to work more. Everyone is now struggling to make arrests so that they can gain recognition and award. For each award, the officer gets promotion and other incentives.”
Garba who lauded Marwa for coming up with the initiative, stressed that officers are now happier than in the past.
According to him, some of the officers whose promotions had been stagnated in the past years have now been appropriately promoted, while the chairman is also working on increasing the salaries of personnel and provision of intervention funds for the agency.
