BENIN CITY – A former member of the House of Representatives, Bishop (Hon) Ezekiel Oise Orheva has urged President Mohammadu Buhari to rebrand the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for effective service delivery.
In an Open Letter to the president, Bishop Orheva said that since inception about 21 years ago, the agency has performed creditably well in discharging its mandate despite the dearth of manpower and the agency established in few locations across the country.
The open letter dated August 27, 2021 was titled, REBRANDING THE NDLEA FOR GREATER SPREAD AND MORE EFFICIENCY: COMMMUNITY JOINT TASK FORCES, JTFS ARE INEVITABLE FOR DAILY OPTIMUM RESULTS.
He said that NDLEA is one of the few performing federal government agencies in Nigeria as the benefit of having its presence in every nook and cranny of Nigeria cannot be over emphasised in view of the nefarious activities of Indian hemp growers and marketers.
According to him, “with the illegal and criminal activities practices of growing love for money and eventual emergence of YAHOO BOYS, the practice is now in every nook and cranny of Nigeria,” adding that a cursory look at national newspapers would attest to this.
He disclosed that the days are passed when Bendel, now Edo State was declared black spot for Indian hemp cultivation and marketing as northern states are now in the forefront of the illegal business.
As part of the rebranding of the agency, Bishop Orheva advocated increase in salary of the agency’s serving personnel, establishment of the agency’s presence in all the Local Government Areas of the state, with at least 50 personnel, while the agency synergises with village heads, Obas, Emirs, traditional rulers, as well as muslim and Christian clerics whom he said also loath the trade for optimum performance.
Bishop Orheva said that the present situation where the agency uses secret informers/whistle blowers is a defective and dangerous mode of operation as those who offer themselves for the service are sometimes blackmailed or killed and in their place recommended the setting up of Community Joint Task Force (CJTF).
