NDLEA, Customs sign MoU on drug trafficking fight

On Tuesday, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the Nigerian Customs Service signed a memorandum of understanding to improve their cooperation in combating the country’s drug trafficking problem.

The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retired), and the NCS Comptroller General, Col. Hameed Ali, (retd.), signed the MoU on Tuesday at the NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja.

According to reports, the MoU aims to assist both agencies in exchanging knowledge and tactics that will boost the nation’s continuing fight against illicit narcotics.

The NDLEA leader stated during his statement at the signing that both organisations will work together under the terms of the MoU to cause maximum losses on drug gangs determined to traffic in illegal drugs at the expense of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Marwa said, “With this united front, there can only be one assurance that the criminal elements in our society will definitely be the losers and I assure you that they will certainly lose big as we come for them to put them where they rightly belong and cripple their crime syndicates.

“While there is no doubt as to the benefits that this MoU will provide to our two services and the nation at large, it is my hope that its successful execution and implementation will provide the necessary impetus for extension to other sister law enforcement agencies (LEAs) operating at our airports, seaports and land borders. On this basis, it is imperative to drive the implementation of the MoU to ensure that its objectives and derivable are achieved.

“Therefore, on behalf of the NDLEA, I assure you of our commitment to this MoU and intend to provide all the necessary support required to drive the implementation process in order to ensure the realisation of all accruable benefits. As it is usually said, together we stand and remain undefeatable.”

The document, Marwa continued, has a number of improvements that will promote communication between the rank and file and between the various levels of command and administration of the two organisations.

“It provides for joint training of personnel just as it makes provisions for regular meetings of command officers at various levels of our command structures. These are the meetings of commanders/comptrollers of the various relevant formations, at the relevant directorates/departments of the national headquarters and at the highest level of policy-making between the Comptroller-General of Customs and my office, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, which is expected to take place at least twice a year.

“The expected outcome of these series of interactions is to foster better understanding of the respective roles and mandates of our two organisations and how they complement one another in a mutually inclusive way. The ultimate objective is to dissolve suspicion, friction and general interagency rivalry that does not do our nation any good in terms of effectively securing the entry and exit points of our dear country.

“This will provide an effective defence line at our various ports of entry/exit to prevent the influx of offensive materials and substances that undermine our national security, and ensure that our national assets are not smuggled out to undermine our economic progress and stability.”

In his remarks, the Customs boss said the MoU showed the two agencies’ commitment to save Nigeria from drugs and other substances.

He also thanked Marwa for initiating the partnership.

He said, “I want to reiterate that our coming together does not send a signal only to our nation but to the international partners, that we are committed to protecting our borders from illicit drugs. We have all along been doing this, finding drugs in the borders, but thank God the sole responsibility has been removed from us, and we had some relief.

“What we do now is that when we arrest the suspects, we hand them over to the NDLEA, where they will be pursued, investigated and punished severely.”

He went on to express the NCS’s dedication to seeing the MoU through to completion.