No fewer than 225 suspected drug traffickers were arrested by the Kwara State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) between January 2023 till date.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by the acting state commander of the agency, Adebimpe Odewale, who added that the agency also seized 809, 200 kilograms of illicit drugs within that period.
This was revealed in commemoration of the 2023 World Drug Day, in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State.
According to her, the command secured 57 convictions, while 39 cases are still pending in court. Disclosing that 99 drug users were counselled by the command, she worried about the involvement of students of institutions of higher learning in drug abuse.
The NDLEA commander explained that the command was conducting intelligence-led operational activities to reverse the trend in addition to various advocacy and enlightenment measures put in place.
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She called on the state government and other stakeholders to support the agency to enable it to reduce drug abuse and trafficking to the barest minimum.
In another news, a 40-year-old farmer, Zakaria Bulus, was on Monday remanded in a correctional centre by a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kafanchan, Kaduna State for allegedly defiling a 10-year-old girl.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) is charging the victim with defilement of a minor.
Samson Kwasu, the presiding judge, did not take the plea of Bulus but directed the prosecutor to forward the case file to the State Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
The case was adjourned till July 18 for further mention.
Marcus Audu, the NSCDC prosecutor, had earlier told the court that the matter was reported at the NSCDC office in Kafanchan by the victim’s mother on June 13.
He alleged that the girl was lured into an uncompleted building at Ungwan Masara and defiled, adding that the minor was taken to the Salama Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Kafanchan.
According to the prosecutor, Bulus confessed to the crime during investigation.