By IBIRONKE ARIYO

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it will deploy personnel to 774 Local Government Areas in 2024 to strengthen the war against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking especially in local communities.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi on Friday in Abuja.

The NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), said this while responding to request for partnership and deployment of more NDLEA officers in all parts of Katsina by Gov. Dikko Radda.

Marwa stated that the request was based on taming the problem of drug abuse and insecurity in the state.

Marwa said “with the agency’s staff strength expected to rise to 15,000 by the end of the year, the next “development is to deploy in the LGAs.

“We currently have zonal commands, state commands, and area commands. We want to go to the LGAs for the offensive action and the advocacy work.

“We would need more support to succeed. I appreciate the work of the Katsina governor as the challenges are numerous in governing the state.

“But if insecurity is a problem and is fueled by drugs, I believe we have to collectively take it out of the security equation,” he said.

Marwa commended Gov. Radda for his efforts to surmount the various challenges faced and enhance the socio-economic development of the state.

He appealed to the Katsina Government to have a state drug control committee of which the NDLEA would be the secretary and the chairperson would be the First Lady of the state.

He said that the first ladies were in the strategic position, because they were the mothers and have the best interest of the government at heart.

Speaking earlier, Gov. Radda said he was at the agency as part of his government’s efforts to solve the problem of insecurity facing the state.

Radda said that it was no longer news that the problem of insecurity had been ongoing for years and insecurity was one of the major issues confronting Katsina state.

According to him, we receive unpleasant news almost on a daily basis on what has been the issues disturbing the state for a long time.

“We have taken some needful steps, we set up a Katsina community watch corps with locals to complement the efforts of the conventional security agencies but that is not enough.

“We decided to reach out to the NDLEA under the leadership of the chairman to combine our efforts and synergise to mitigate the effect of insecurity in the state.

“It was necessary to get to the root of the problem, and the root of the problem is drug abuse by the teeming youths in the state.

“We know that these inhumane acts cannot be committed without the influence of drugs,” he said.

Radda said that he hoped the partnership would go a long way in alleviating the issues of the state and improving the economy.

“Once insecurity is reduced, economic activities will be conducted better,” he said. (NAN)

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