Bode-George becomes NDLEA acting chairman

The outgoing Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade, yesterday, handed over the mantle of leadership to the Director General of the Agency, Mrs Roli Bode-George at Ikoyi, Lagos.

This is the first time in the Agency that an outgoing chairman will successfully serve for 10 years without blemish.   Giade urged the new boss to take officers welfare as priority.

Giade said: “I am leaving the Agency better than I met it 10 years ago. My greatest legacy is my zero tolerance for corruption. If we must continue to dislodge drug barons and eradicate drugs from our society, we must remain forthright and committed to drug control programmes. I’m leaving behind a legacy of proactive and intelligence-led organisation. The Agency under my watch has a representative at INTERPOL headquarters and has successfully raised the international profile of the country through unprecedented seizures of drugs and arrest of drug barons.”

He cited the removal of Nigeria from the drug majors list by the United States government and cordial working relationship with stakeholders as some of the significant achievements recorded in the past 10 years.

He added: “NDLEA has witnessed unprecedented training programmes for officers sponsored by United States government, Germany, Spain, France and the European Union.”

The acting Chairman of the Agency, Mrs Bode-George said that the Agency will continue to enforce the rules of engagement and uphold the tenets of integrity.

She added: “A committee has been put in place to make recommendations on the way forward. NDLEA will continue to be proactive and operate as an intelligence-led agency. The Agency will apply modern techniques and diligently implement the National Drug Control Master Plan in collaboration with stakeholders.”

Under Giade in 2011, NDLEA discovered the first clandestine laboratory used for methamphetamine production. A total of 10 methamphetamine production centres have been discovered and shutdown in Lagos and Anambra States, while drugs weighing 55,830,837kg and arrest of 72,253 suspected drug traffickers were seized between 2006 and 2014.

The suspected traffickers are 67,773 males and 4,480 females, while the breakdown of drugs is as follows; 55,657,727.32kg of cannabis, 17,748.382kg of cocaine, 874.304kg of heroin and 153,831.6kg of psychotropic substances. The NDLEA also prosecuted 14,801 drug traffickers within the period and won 14,668 cases.