From: Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The Kano Zone of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Monday night, destroyed a total of 54,244,639 kilograms of narcotic and psychotropic substance.
The exhibits, which were seized by both the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) Command and the Kano State Command of the Agency between the period of 2016 and 2017 , were approved for destruction by a Federal High Court of Justice in Kano .
A delighted Kano State Commander of the Agency, Alhaji Hamza Umar, listed the destroyed substance to include 111,504,822 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa , 42,700,27 kilograms of Psychotropic Substance, 26.187 kilograms of Cocaine and 13.360 kilograms of Heroine
According to him, the exhibits represented only but a fraction of the arrested drugs in both Commands even as he appreciated the efforts of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje for assisting them with supportive logistics such as operational vehicles and a conducive atmosphere to discharge their mandate in the state.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) , Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd.), expressed relief at the burning exercise, describing it” as the concluding part of our tortuous operations and investigative process”
He remarked that while tonnage of the seized drugs were indicative of an impressive performance by his officers, the interception of 54.255 metric tons of drugs in a particular state in no such a long period of time was unacceptable and worrisome .
While saying that the volume of intercepted drugs spoke a lot about the prevalence of drugs in the state , he pointed out also that in many states where the same exercise had been conducted, the major drug had been cannabis Sativa .
“The trend here in the state is more complex in that we are talking of the seizures of multiple drugs with all of them in considerable quantities” he ventured .
The NDLEA boss said that the country had lamented over the drug problem for too long, played the ostrich for too long also , saying that what was needed was immediate action by all and sundry to tame the menace of drug abuse in the country.