Beyond the proliferation of firearms and light weapons which continue to undermine Nigeria’s security architecture and manifesting in worsening insecurity nationwide, the abuse of hard drugs and other banned substances coupled with the near absence of stringent laws and weak enforcement of same have militated against the war against drug and substance abuse by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
It is for this reason that we wholeheartedly welcome the recent passage of the legislation entitled, “A Bill for an Act to amend the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act CAP N 30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004,” prescribing stringent penalties ranging from life imprisonment to 15 years jail term minimum penalty for persons involved in the importation and exportation of hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin and others.
Though awaiting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assent, the bill if signed into law in our view, has the capacity to serve as sufficient deterrent not only to the production and sale of illicit drugs but will send strong signals to drug barons, traffickers and users that it is no longer business as usual and that those caught must face the full wrath of the law unlike what obtains presently.
Recall that some of the lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate who had mulled the death sentence for drug offenders which sparked national outrage, later bowed to pressure from human rights activists and Amnesty International that stood doggedly against the move on the ground that it was very draconian and out of tune with global trend to move away from capital punishment.
But such human rights defenders appeared to have lost sight of the strong nexus which psychologists have established between an increase in drug abuse cases and the worsening insecurity in the land often resulting in recent upsurge in terrorists’ attacks, murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, rape cases and cultism amongst other crimes as well as posing as serious threat to a whole generation of young citizens who is at risk of been lost to hard drugs.
Unfortunately also, shortly after advocates of the death sentence for for abusers, traffickers and barons of hard drugs had lost out, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed 10 Nigerians and some 79 nationals of other countries, most of them convicted of drug-related offences in December 2024 which almost triple the figures for 2023 and 2022, when the authorities put to death 34 foreigners each year.
It is on record that apart from the Nigerians, other foreigners executed included 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan and seven from Ethiopia which the Berlin-based European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) noted had broken a record in the number of executions of foreigners by the Kingdom ever in one year.
Before arriving at maximum of life sentence for drug related offenders, the sponsor of the amendment of the NDLEA law to check the incidence of light sentencing for drug offenders, Sen. Dimka Hezekiah (Plateau Central), raised serious concerns that in spite of the fact that the Supreme Court had held that the minimum penalty for those dealing in hard drugs was 15 years jail term, some judges of the Federal High Court had continued to pass ridiculously light and illegal sentences on convicts.
In similar vein, while throwing his weight behind the bill, Sen. Istifanus Dung (PDP-Plateau) lamented that the prevalence and menace of drugs and its destructive effects on the lives of citizens, particularly youths had attained an alarming stage adding, “a whole generation is at risk of been lost to drugs. The production and sale of illicit drugs require strong regulation and enforcement powered by NDLEA. And this bill is seeking to strengthen and stiffen the sanctions against drug abuse in such a way that it will end in breaking and ending the destructive drug trade.” For him also, one of the ways to tackle the menace was to restrict access to drugs, insisting that without stiffer sanctions, drug barons would persist in their nefarious practices.
It worth noting therefore to highlight the fact that the National Assembly which passed an amendment to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act followed the adoption of the Senate Conference Committee that harmonised the report of both chambers of the National Assembly in November.
Specifically, the Committee among others recommended that: “Any person who is unlawfully involved in the storage, custody, movement, carriage or concealment of dangerous drugs or controlled substances and who, while so involved is armed with any offensive weapon or is disguised in any way, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and liable on conviction to be sentenced to life imprisonment.” However, other categories of offenders according to the new legislation, upon conviction are liable to a minimum of 15 years imprisonment.
Recall that recent statistics reeled out by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa on the Agency’s scored card for last year has revealed that all hands must be on the plough by all stakeholders among them the government, public spirited individuals and organizations, families, all religions organizations as well as international partners for the current war against drug abuse and trafficking in banned harmful substances to be prosecuted decisively.
For instance, the Agency seized over 2.6 million kilograms of illicit drugs, arrested more than 18,500 drug trafficking offenders, got over 3,250 convicted, including 10 drug barons, with more than 220 hectares of cannabis farms destroyed, in addition to counselling and rehabilitating over 8, 200 addicts, with more than 3,000 sensitization and advocacy programmes organized across the country in schools, markets, motor parks, worship centres, work places and communities, among others. No doubt this has created an equipoise between the Agency’s drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
Consequently, we demand that President Tinubu should as a matter of national urgency assent to the all important bill as part of united efforts to reinvigorate the current offensive by the NDLEA against drug barons, traffickers, users and ultimately rid our society of the scourge of serial abuse of harmful drugs and substances such as heroin, cocaine, cannabis, loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, methamphetamine amongst others.
Besides, it has become imperative for the federal government to adequately fund the Agency as well as strong support from Nigerians for the war against drug abuse, WADA, anchored on ‘the whole of society approach’ to preventive action against drug abuse will serve as a major boost in the advocacy for social action and an awareness-propelled vehicle for public engagement and collaboration against illicit trafficking and abuse of hard drugs for the ultimate benefit of the society at large.
We strongly believe that this should be complemented by relentless campaigns for moral regenerate and values by schools, parents, religious organizations and governments. It’s high time that citizens should imbibe the immortal words of Late Mahatma Gandhi of Indian that, “Strength does not come from physical capacity but comes from an indomitable will,” by rejecting all forms of drug abuse and trafficking in harmful substances in the overall interest of our fatherland.