The Deputy Commander in charge of Operations, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ebonyi state command, has revealed that they have arrested about 200 drug traffickers between January and October 2019 in the state.
Mohammed Bashiri Ibrahim, on Monday, while fielding questions from journalists during a 2 day training workshop organized for members of neighborhood watch security outfit of Ebonyi state, also lamented increase infiltration of drugs in the state.
“From January to October we have arrested about 200 drug traffickers and the cases are going on in the court. I think this year alone we have secured about 35 convictions of drug offenders this year alone and we are still counting.
“On 22 of this month, that was last week, we arrested 189kw of cannabis. The same day we arrested over 200, pinches of cocaine and 150 heroins within the town just in a single day”.
“The state is growing, and development is coming to Ebonyi, the Governor is building structures and what do you expect, people are coming in to do business. People that work at sites want to take drugs, so people come to do marketing. Ebonyi is like emerging state so you expect drug infiltration into the state
“And look at the border points between Ebonyi and cross river and Cameron, some of them pass through the cross river while some remain in the state” he stated .
On his part, the State Commissioner for Border Peace and Conflict Resolution, Mr. Stanley Okoro Emegha, pointed out that the training of Neighborhood Watch members is done quarterly to enable security personnel tutor them.
He noted that members of the Neighborhood Watch are civilians who were engaged by the state government to assist in the security of the state.
Adding that Gov. Umahi’s administration was doing its best to tackle the rising cases of drug abuse, while urging members of the vigilante outfit to always work with security agencies for the security of lives and property in the state.
His words; “So the training will help to prepare them for the troubles ahead. You know armed robbers can never stop. So far so good what you can see in Ebonyi state is generally pocket of crimes but we are doing all we can to bring it to the barest minimum.
“They need to have the knowledge, not only carrying arm they need to know the technical knowhow. And these people are more on ground than the security agencies, so they can easily get report and give to the security agencies”.
