Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig Gen Buba Marwa (Rtd) on Thursday said drug barons were assassinating operatives of the agency in the renewed fight against drug abuse in the country.
Marwa said this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee of Drugs and Narcotics to defend the agency’s 2022 budget performance and 2023 proposal. Against this background, he emphasised the need for the urgent provision of barracks for operatives of the agency.
He said with the approval of the President, the NDLEA is in the process of building barracks for its personnel for the first time, adding that it was also in the process of building three rehabilitation centres, two forensic laboratories and procurement of security equipment.
According to him, the agency has concluded the acquisition of land in Adamawa, Abuja and Lagos for the barracks and the Private Public Partnership process is rounding off.
Marwa also said there was also a need to enhance the purchase of more arms and ammunition for the agency. He said N24 billion was allocated to the barracks project in the 2022 budget and rued that it had been slashed to N13 billion in the 2023 budget proposal.
He called for an additional N10 billion for the projects.
