Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd.), has appealed to traditional rulers and community leaders to carefully screen individuals seeking to purchase farmlands, warning that criminal syndicates are increasingly exploiting remote locations to establish illegal drug manufacturing facilities.
Marwa said the warning followed the recent uncovering of industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratories allegedly linked to a Nigerian-Mexican drug cartel operating in forest areas of Ogun and Oyo states.
The NDLEA boss made the appeal during the 10th Akinale Day celebration and the first coronation anniversary of the Towulade of Owu Akinale, Oba Oluseyi Adediran, according to a statement issued on Saturday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
Addressing the gathering, Marwa urged traditional institutions, particularly in the South-West, to remain vigilant and closely monitor the activities of unfamiliar persons moving into their communities and surrounding forests.
He stressed that community leaders should exercise caution before approving the sale of farmlands, saying such measures would help prevent drug traffickers from taking advantage of isolated areas for illicit drug production.
“Royal fathers and community leaders in the South-West and the country as a whole must pay attention to activities of strangers in their forests. Also, those seeking to buy farmlands in rural communities must be properly vetted,” he said.
Marwa also called for stronger collaboration between the NDLEA and traditional institutions, parents and community leaders nationwide in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.
He noted that drug abuse affects people across different social and economic backgrounds, emphasising the need for parents to pay closer attention to their children and detect signs of substance abuse at an early stage.
The NDLEA chairman further encouraged young Nigerians to avoid illicit drugs, warning that substance abuse does not provide solutions to life’s challenges but instead deepens personal and societal problems.
He also urged the royal council and residents of Owu Akinale to establish grassroots advocacy groups that would help discourage drug trafficking within the community while offering support to individuals struggling with substance dependence.
Marwa maintained that the campaign against illicit drugs could only succeed with the active involvement of traditional rulers and local leaders, whom he described as influential figures capable of shaping attitudes and behaviours at the grassroots level.
The event attracted an array of dignitaries, including political office holders, traditional rulers and other prominent guests.
(Ripples)