…as Lagos, Port Harcourt top centres of seizures
That Nigeria is in the midst of a hard drug crisis is an understatement going by the huge amounts of hard drugs that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized from January 2024 to date.
An analysis done by The Nigerian Observer team shows the growing involvement of many Nigerians across the states of the federation. Our analysis equally shows that based on the few street values of drugs seized by the NDLEA, the monetary value of the contraband drugs confiscated will be at least N100 billion, indicating the huge resources being wasted monthly by Nigerians at home and in the diaspora.
Drugs mostly involved were codeine, loud, opioids, colos, methamphetamine, tramadol, tapentadol, heroine, among others with both air and seaports in Lagos State, and Onne Port in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, being the locations where the highest amounts of these banned drugs were seized. Other locations include Ogun, Abia, Kano, among others.
For the ten-month period covered by The Nigerian Observer’s analysis, a total of N38.8 billion worth of banned drugs were seized in September 2024, making it the busiest month in drug seizures in Nigeria this year. This was followed by N15.2 billion worth of seizures in June; N12.2 billion worth of seizures within the first two weeks in October; N11.9 billion worth of seizures in July; N8.5 billion worth of seizures in August, and another N1.3 billion worth of seizures in May, based on street values provided by the NDLEA, just to mention a few. The suspects arrested were mostly males, with their ages ranging from 20 to 70 years.
A legal expert who did not want his name in print due to the sensitivity of the matter attributed the increasing involvement of people in drug trafficking to the slow pace of prosecution by the NDLEA, adding that most of the cases are not followed through.
“First, the return on drug business is high. That is why those involved in it hardly consider the implications of their actions especially to countries where the penalty for involvement in drugs is the death sentence,” the legal expert said.
“And concerning the low number of suspects convicted, NDLEA has a poor record of prosecuting suspects. This is due to the few numbers of lawyers in their employ who are overwhelmed by the number of cases they have to prosecute on a monthly basis,” he said.
According to the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), for a period of 38 months up to April 2024, the anti-narcotics agency had arrested 50,901 suspects and secured 9,034 convictions. This showed the agency was only able to prosecute just 18 per cent of all the drug suspects arrested during the period.
“During this period, the NDLEA achieved significant milestones in its mission to combat drug trafficking and abuse. With a total of 50,901 arrests, including the apprehension of 46 drug barons, our agency has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to bringing those involved in illicit drug activities to justice. Furthermore, the conviction of 9,034 offenders underscores our relentless pursuit of accountability and deterrence in the fight against drug-related crimes,” Marwa said back in April 2024.
According to the Africa Organised Crime Index 2023, the West African sub-region ranked as one of the lucrative markets for cocaine trade in Africa.
“The region is a well-established trans-shipment point for cocaine from Latin America destined for European consumer markets, and is growing in significance, as demonstrated, among other things, by the escalating number of seizures reported in 2021 and 2022,” the ENACT Organised Crime Index stated.
“During this period, notable cocaine seizures were carried out by the competent authorities in Cabo Verde (7.50), Nigeria (7.0), Gambia (7.0) and Côte d’Ivoire (5.50). Furthermore, seizure data from Brazilian authorities identified Benin (7.0), Nigeria (7.0), Guinea (7.0) and Cabo Verde (7.50) as the most common destinations for cocaine trafficking,” it said, indicating that countries are ranked on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the least severe while 10 is the most severe.
Earlier in the year, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammed Ali Pate, admitted that about 14.4 per cent of the nation’s population, translating into 14 million Nigerians within the ages of 15-64 years, use drugs like cannabis, amphetamines, tramadol, cocaine and codeine, adding that about 40 per cent of high-risk drugs users in the country cannot access the needed treatment.