From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of Nigeria and Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) have agreed to strengthen their partnership in the fight against trafficking of illicit drugs between the two countries.
This was the fallout of discussions between the Chairman and Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (retd) the Saudi official, Col Naser Hajid Al Otaibi, in Abuja.
Gen Marwa who expressed appreciation for the support received from the Saudi authorities in the past noted that Nigeria took the war against drug abuse and trafficking very seriously and that explains why President Muhammadu Buhari has been giving all the needed support to the NDLEA to actualise its mandate and mission.
According to a statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA boss asked the Saudi government for support especially in the areas of technical assistance and donation of equipment such as scanners, forensic laboratory and rehabilitation centres.
‘Considering the need for an enduring partnership, we propose a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the two agencies in combating trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and its precursors to GDNC for consideration and signing just like we recently did with Drug Law Enforcement Agency, in The Gambia,’ he said.
Speaking earlier, the GDNC representative, Colonel Naser Hajid Al Otaibi, in Abuja, extended an open invitation to Gen. Marwa to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to deepen discussions on various aspects of effective collaboration between the NDLEA and the GDNC, an invitation the NDLEA Chairman accepted with the hope that such will provide the opportunity to sign the MoU on the partnership between the two anti-narcotic agencies.