{"id":8371,"date":"2013-08-15T01:40:02","date_gmt":"2013-08-15T01:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/dg-laments-poor-funding-of-ndlea-2\/"},"modified":"2013-08-15T01:40:02","modified_gmt":"2013-08-15T01:40:02","slug":"dg-laments-poor-funding-of-ndlea-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/dg-laments-poor-funding-of-ndlea-2\/","title":{"rendered":"DG laments poor funding of NDLEA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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THE Director-General, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Femi Ajayi, has lamented the various challenges confronting the agency, saying as long as it continues to suffer adequate funding, the drug menace, as a threat to peace and national security, would subsist.<\/p>\n

  Delivering his address Wednesday at a business meeting of the Rotary Club of Lagos which took place in Ikoyi, Ajayi said the problem of underfunding has continued to cripple the activities of the agency despite all powers granted to her to control drug abuse.<\/p>\n

  \u201cDespite the fact that Section 41 of the NDLEA Act Cap. N.30 empowers the agency and her officers to enter into any premises and conduct search without warrant in the course of their duties upon a reasonable suspicion of the commission of a drug offence as well as Sections 4 and 43 of the NDLEA Act that empower the agency to, on the respective approval of either the President or Attorney-General of the Federation, investigate anybody who appears to be living beyond his apparent source of income, the NDLEA has always been confronted with various challenges which include poor funding, inadequate equipment and poor staffing.<\/p>\n

 \u201cIt is rather absurd that in a nation of about 160 million population, the staff strength of NDLEA is still below 5,300 for the entire country with a lot of borders, legal and illegal entries, which have led to increase in criminality in the area of drug abuse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

  Ajayi noted that before now, Nigeria was just taken for a passage of drugs, but the NDLEA has discovered five different clandestine laboratories where drugs are being produced. According to him, in the last 30 years, Nigeria has moved from small player to major player in drug production and consumption.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria is now known for trafficking in drugs and production of the substances, and unless more money is pumped into the agency, drug control would be compromised, the work force would be compromised while the future of the youth is put in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

 \u201cIt is pertinent to point out that by the nature of her functions, NDLEA has the responsibility of safeguarding the health of Nigerians, contributing to maintenance of peace and security in the nation, as well as promoting and enhancing the country\u2019s international image and integrity to attract support and investments. These have led to granting of special powers to the agency to enable her discharge her mandate,\u201d Ajayi said.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: Guardian Newspaper<\/p>\n

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