NDLEA mobilises global and national support for development projects

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has received support from international partners and local stakeholders in the global fight against the scourge of illicit drug trafficking.

They (international and local stakeholders) have expressed their willingness to support the Alternative Development Project (ADP) of the NDLEA, an initiative aimed at encouraging producers and dealers of illicit drugs to engage in legal and productive business opportunities.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement yesterday that they made the commitment in their remarks during the opening ceremony of a workshop on “Building a Support Network for the Alternative Development Project in Nigeria” organised by the Alternative Development Division of NDLEA at the agency’s national headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (rtd) explained the decision to embrace the ADP initiative, noting that it would focus on reducing the vulnerabilities of ignorance, poverty, hunger, unemployment and underdevelopment that push people into illicit economies, particularly illicit drug cultivation. Apart from its link to transnational organized crime, illicit drug cultivation fuels national organized crime that is causing agricultural states to abandon food crop cultivation for cannabis plantations in some communities in Southwest Nigeria.