The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is the latest law enforcement outfit to benefit from Anambra State’s generosity.
The Governor Peter Obi administration has given out over 500 vehicles to security agencies in the last seven years.
“We have given the police over 300 vehicles,” the governor said. “I have also given to the Army, Navy, schools, and many others.”
Now, the NDLEA has taken its turn, receiving five brand new vehicles (four Hilux pickup vans and one 18-seater bus from the state. The agency’s chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade received the vehicles.
That was not all. Obi also handed over a N10m cheque to Giade, saying the gesture was to assist the anti-drug agency in its task in the state.
He lamented the consequences of hard sin the society, noting their correlation with crime. The governor added, though, that bank robberies have become a thing of the past in the state while kidnapping, he said, has also reduced drastically.
He, nevertheless, stressed the need for every tier of government to support the NDLEA in fighting trafficking and use of hard drugs.
The governor assured that he will personally carry the campaign against hard drugs to all Nigerians in various parts of the world.
He urged the people to join the battle to save the country from menace of drug addiction.
Obi responded to remarks that his administration is presenting vehicles to organisations and individuals in the twilight of his tenure.
He said that before his administration, Ministries in the state had no vehicles and that he started buying vehicles for different groups in the state over six years ago with a view to serving the people.
The elated chairman of NDLEA, Alhaji Giade said the governor has made history by being the first in the country to give such support to the Agency since it came into existence. Giade added that Obi had set an example which governments at all levels should emulate.
He said that despite the lean resources of the state, Obi still saved a lot of money to do extraordinary things while meeting up his other responsibilities.
The NDLEA chief noted that the vehicles and financial support will boost the operational capacity of the Agency. He thanked the governor for his support.
Gisade explained that all heinous crimes including armed robbery are associated with hard drugs and called for collective effort to win the war.
The NDLEA boss disclosed that the Agency is sharing intelligence with other countries of the world resulting in many arrests and convictions.
The state Commander, Momodu Sule described the vehicles and cash donation as a huge boost in performing more diligently, effectively and efficiently in his duties than ever.
He said all efforts are geared towards trying to make the state drug-free, stressing further that that it has arrested 195 drug peddlers in Anambra, convicted two convicted even as several other cases are ongoing in the Federal High court.
Momodu told Newsextra that they could not do anything without information from the members of the public, adding that cocaine, heroine and cannabis are rampant in Anambra. He said that they discovered in Nanka, Orumba North Local Government Area of the state a facility where one of the most potent but illicit drugs in the world-Metaphytamin- was being manufactured.
Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Anambra State, Mr Egwuoyibo Okoye, in his remarks, commended Obi for his magnanimity in granting financial aid and also giving utility vehicles to federal agencies and parastatals in the state. He said the vehicles would aid the agency in their task to keep the society free of hard drugs.
