Strategic Commander, National Drug Enforcement Agency, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos Command, Usman Wadar, says no fewer than 14m Nigerians out of the estimated 223m have either tasted or are hooked on drugs.
The NDLEA boss made this assertion while playing host to the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc on Tuesday at the Lagos Airport, a visit that saw the donation of several medical facilities to the airport Command of the NDLEA as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.
Some of the medical facilities donated by SAHCO included an incubator, centrifuge machine, sphygmomanometer, weighing scale, poison box, lipid profile meter, staining rack, and ambu bags.
Speaking at the event, Wadar said the 14m figure was provided by the United Nations Drug Survey in its 2018 statistics. He emphasised that the menace was a global and societal challenge but explained that the recent statistics from Nigeria indicated that the illegal use of drugs was declining in the country.
According to him, in 2022, the command seized about 21 tonnes of illicit drugs; 2023 was 23 tonnes, but it dropped drastically to just seven tonnes in 2024.
He attributed this success to the steps taken by the NDLEA to curb the growing menace in Nigerian society.
He said, “The drug problem is a global and societal one. If you go by the 2018 United Nations Drug Survey, more than 14m Nigerians have either tasted drugs or are hooked on drugs. That is a very staggering figure. It shows that all hands must be on deck so that we can curb this menace in our society.
“If you look at what we did in 2022, about 21 tonnes of assorted drugs were seized in this particular command. In 2023, it was 23 tonnes, but by 2024, it has drastically gone down to about seven tonnes. You can see a decline in that. That means our effort is paying off.”