The NDLEA Commander in the FCT, Mr Kabir Tsakuwa, who made this known on Tuesday in Abuja at a pre-event press briefing on grassroots sensitisation and awareness campaign on the dangers of illicit drugs, said the agency seized 13, 125kg of drug substances.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said that a total of 793 suspects were arrested in 2022, at Federal Capital Territory.
The NDLEA Commander in the FCT, Mr Kabir Tsakuwa, who made this known on Tuesday in Abuja at a pre-event press briefing on grassroots sensitisation and awareness campaign on the dangers of illicit drugs, said the agency seized 13, 125kg of drug substances.
The Commander said 2022 was a fruitful year for the command, adding that records of arrests, seizures and convictions were impressive.
It also noted that the agency’s counselling and rehabilitation programmes yielded positive results in the territory, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
Tsakuwa who commended all stakeholders including other security agencies for their assistance in intelligence sharing, joint operations and prevention of drug abuse and trafficking in the society, commended the traditional rulers in FCT.
He described their efforts as helpful.
He said, "A total of 793 suspects comprising 768 males and 29 females were arrested.
“13, 125 kilogrammes of different drug substances were seized. The breakdown of the seized drugs are 12,660.3 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa.
“Others include 21.957 kilogrammes of cocaine, 0.008 kilogrammes of heroin and 443.693 kilogrammes of different psychotropic substances.
"The command also had 167 convictions comprised of 161 males and six females.
"78 persons comprising 74 males and four females with drug use problems were successfully counselled and rehabilitated within the same period.
"Efforts were on towards better achievements in drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction in the year 2023.
“We must always remind ourselves that the drug problem exists in every community and we need to address it at all levels.”
“We, therefore, implore you to sustain this robust engagement with a view of ridding our society of substance abuse and its attendant consequences, “he said.