NDLEA Principal Staff
Officer, Public Affairs, Mr Jonah Achema, said: “These individuals go by the
name "Concerned NDLEA Officers", using one pseudo name Musa Ahmed
Yusuf to circulate petitions against the Chairman and Directors of the Agency.
This is a panic device by the men of the underworld who are troubled by the
unprecedented counter-narcotic strategies being put in place by the Chairman.”
Achema urged
journalists not to allow itself to be misled by the desperate petitioners, whom
he describes as desperate individuals that keep changing date of the petition.
The image maker noted:
“Some months back, the Agency had painstakingly responded to all the so-called
issues raised in a well-publicized Press Release. It is a well-known doctrine
in Law that he who alleges must prove. It is not enough to be brandishing
allegations without any shred of evidence. Doing so, which has been the stock
in trade of this set of individuals only amounts to wishful thinking and sheer
media orchestration against the Agency. Do the petitioners need to be told
where to direct their petitions? There are many anti-graft agencies in the
country and we challenge them to do so. NDLEA's internal control mechanism
against any misconduct by its officers has never been faulted.”
Achema further said
that the Agency finds it unimaginable that some persons could be as mischievous
and inhuman as to politicize and trivialize the unfortunate death of officers
by attributing such deaths to frustration arising from the mismanagement of the
Agency.
His words: “It is
illogical to claim that longevity of a worker is solely determined by the
working condition of the organization. While efforts are ongoing to improve the
working condition of the Agency, NDLEA’s working condition is at par with those
of other security agencies in the country. The same health policy that applies
to all government organizations is enjoyed by the Agency. Besides, the facilities
of Military Hospitals are at the disposal of NDLEA officers. The petitioners
have failed to realize that the average life expectancy in the country is about
50 years and an average officer that has put in 27 years should be within the
threshold of the country’s life expectancy.”
He explained that the
death of any officer has remained a great source of grief to the Agency which
calls for solemnization. He maintained that it was out of concern that the
Agency has for any of its deceased officers that it instituted a fund as a
stop-gap to assist the family of the deceased pending the maturation of their
terminal benefits.
He stressed that contrary
to claims that the Agency's international collaborators were displeased with
the present management, the Agency has continued to enjoy robust training and
logistic support and exchange of intelligence from the international partners.
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