January 12, 2018

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Oyo State Command, says it arrested 192 suspects and seized 7,090.34kg of hard drugs between January and December 2017.

The state Commandant, Mrs Omolade Faboyede, disclosed this in a statement in Ibadan, released by the command Public Relations Officer, Mrs Mutiat Okuwobi on Friday.

Faboyede said that the command, during the period, secured 60 convictions of offenders, with jail terms ranging from six months to 15 years.

“Within this period, 7084.52kg of cannabis sativa, 16.3gms of cocaine and 5.8kg psychotropic substances were removed from circulation.

“The command also engaged in drug demand reduction activities, where brief intervention was given to 86 persons while nine went through rehabilitation process and were integrated back to the society,” she said.

The commandant said that the destruction of 25 hectares of cannabis farmland and the public destruction of 14,168.363kg illicit substances were also part of the success recorded in the year under review.

According to her, the state government has since substituted the illicit growing of cannabis sativa on the farmland with cultivation of agricultural products.

“The problem of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking is neither a respecter of persons, age, religion, social class or race.

“We are all potentially vulnerable; therefore, all stakeholders have work to do. It is everybody’s business.

“All hands must be on deck to eradicate the drug problem,” she said.