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Amendment of NDLEA Act ‘ll bolster Nigeria’s drug control efforts – Fagbemi, Marwa

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Amendment of NDLEA Act ‘ll bolster Nigeria’s drug control efforts – Fagbemi, Marwa

By: Michael Mike

As the nation awaits the signing by President Bola Tinubu of the recently passed NDLEA Act, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi and the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) have said the law when it becomes operational would bolster the ongoing drug control efforts in the country.

The NDLEA Act has been passed by the National Assembly and now awaiting the signing into law by President Bola Tinubu.

Both Fagbemi and Marwa stated this in their remarks during the opening ceremony of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drug Control meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

The minister who delivered the keynote address, said: “In the past four years, we have witnessed unprecedented efforts by the NDLEA. These achievements include arrests and seizures, convictions, elaborate evidence-based drug demand reduction interventions, using the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy platform to sensitize communities on the dangers of drug abuse. Consistent gains have been recorded within the global space, by fostering international cooperation and building strong partnerships. NDLEA has sustained the fight with renewed energy and vigour, giving hope to the once hopeless situation.

“The Federal Ministry of Justice has worked together with the NDLEA to ensure that our national legal system effectively supports the drug control efforts of the agency. We are at the last lap of finalizing the amendment of the NDLEA Act, which will significantly enhance the organisational capability of the agency to control the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria. The Ministry is also providing appropriate support in the area of proceeds of crime management, essential to dismantling the financial networks of drug traffickers.”

While acknowledging the contributions of other law enforcement agencies and stakeholders to the country’s drug control efforts, the minister who was represented by the Director, Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, noted that “the work of this Inter-Ministerial Committee has been crucial in coordinating a whole-of-government approach to this top burner issue. By bringing together critical stakeholders, we have been able to develop and implement more comprehensive and balanced strategies, applying the collaborative spirit which the NDCMP promotes.”

He commended state governments that have established their own drug control committees and the civil society organisations working at the community levels to ensure more holistic outcomes.

He however charged the gathering to expand prevention programmes to address the root causes of drug abuse, targeting the youths, women, the vulnerable and marginalized persons in communities, stating that: “Let us leave this meeting with renewed commitment to protecting our youth, securing our communities, and building a healthier, safer Nigeria for generations to come. The commitment made by NDLEA, the IMC and other stakeholders, holds the promise for a drug-free Nigeria.”

In his welcome remarks, Marwa said despite the funding challenges that affected the full implementation of the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP 2021–2025), the agency remained undeterred in the pursuit of its goal. “Instead, we stay resolute, drawing strength from our shared vision, commitment, and collective responsibility to overcome this limitation.

He said “encouragingly, certain developments promise to bolster the achievement of our objectives. One such step is the amendment of the NDLEA Act, which is expected to significantly strengthen the agency’s institutional capacity in drug supply reduction. I am pleased to inform this esteemed assembly that the Amended Act has been passed by the National Assembly and is currently awaiting Presidential assent.”

Marwa, while charging all stakeholders to redouble their efforts, said: “I urge us all to renew our energy and resolve to deliver the impact and value needed to confront Nigeria’s evolving and multifaceted drug challenges. Let us bring our voices, passion, and optimism to bear in our deliberations. May we remain open and forthright in pursuit of our shared goal: the enhancement of health and security for all residents of Nigeria, in line with the aspirations of the NDCMP 2021–2025.”

Assessing major programmes implemented across the strategic pillars of the NDCMP in 2023 and 2024, Marwa said “I can confirm that we have collectively made commendable progress on the Fourth National Action Plan, in comparison with previous iterations. Under the Supply Reduction pillar, our operational efforts and strategic offensives led to the arrest of 31,334 drug offenders, of whom 6,839 were convicted. We also recorded the seizure of 4,333,636.9 kilograms of assorted illicit drugs and undertook the destruction of 426.46724 hectares of cannabis farms.

“Under the Drug Demand Reduction strategic pillar, we provided counselling and rehabilitation services to 19,033 individuals. By accelerating our WADA sensitisation activities across states, local government areas, wards, and communities, we have been able to intentionally disseminate awareness of the dangers of drug abuse to diverse population groups. This has, in turn, fostered a sense of shared ownership and collective commitment in the national effort to curb substance abuse, trafficking, and proliferation across the country.”

Also speaking at the ceremony, UNODC Country Representative, Cheikh Ousmane Toure represented by Dr. Akani Ibanga said Nigeria stands at the crossroads of public health and security sector when it comes to the drug response, adding that “the urgency of the mission that we have today cannot be overstated. Drug use, as we know, is associated with various things from health to safety to productivity to cohesion and, in fact, to how we respond at the level of our community.”

Tasking the gathering, he said “as we gather, we must be guided with data, and I’m glad how the chairman has, detailed the responses that have gone on in the different sectors, both in terms of supply reduction, demand reduction, and when it has to do with access to medications. And I think that where we have a country where at least three million people are said to be suffering from drug use disorder, when we did this calculation and you have 39.5 million in the world, that means we’re contributing 7.5 percent to that data as a country. That’s worrisome, and it calls for us to continue in this last leg of implementing the NDCMP to ensure that we are able to follow through with all the commitments that the drug control master plan have laid out for us to do, that we may address these issues that we face.”

Amendment of NDLEA Act ‘ll bolster Nigeria’s drug control efforts – Fagbemi, Marwa

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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have executed a coordinated strike on a major terrorist enclave located at Maisani in the Timbuktu Triangle general area of Borno State, killing several ISWAP terrorists.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the air interdiction mission conducted on May 4, 2025, at approximately 1800 hours, was informed by credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, targeted terrorists’ structures cleverly concealed and camouflaged under thick shrubs in the area.

The sources said that using advanced platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted a focused Air Interdiction (AI) mission, resulting in the destruction of the identified enemy hideouts and the neutralisation of an unconfirmed number of insurgent fighters.

According to the sources, Post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) obtained from our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms confirmed that the airstrike achieved its intended objectives, dealing a significant blow to terrorists.

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

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Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

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Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

By: Michael Mike

As the world marks the 2025 Environment Day, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has appealed to the World Bank for support on capacity building, data and in addressing the challenges poised by Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in the country.

Head of Department, National Accounts Energy and Environment at the NBS, Dr. Baba Madu made the appeal at the 2025 Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Conference on Thursday in Abuja with support from the World Bank in. collaboration with the NBS and the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Madu while noting that the NCA was a new area Nigeria must exploit to further boost the nation’s economy, said for Nigeria to grow and be at par with other developed nations, there was need to account for her natural resources.

He said: “NCA has been tasked with the crucial role of integrating natural capital into economic measurement. It is impossible to measure the economy accurately without accounting for natural resources. Issues such as environmental degradation, afforestation, desertification, and climate change all directly impact productivity.

“Productivity in turn, influences output—one of the core components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These environmental factors must be reflected across all economic activity sectors to present a more accurate picture of national output.”

While stating that Nigeria currently has data on NCA in Nigeria, the NBS official however raised concerns over the huge data gap from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the environment sector.

He said: “We are not doing badly but we need to improve on what we are doing. In terms of data sources, I can tell you there’s a big gap because these are new areas needed to be exploited.”

Programme Leader on Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Vina Vutukuru, said there was need to jointly
explore the vital role of national accounting in national development plans and to brainstorm on how Nigeria could institutionalize it.

He said: “Establishing the national capital accounting as part of the national account system will allow us to measure the economic value of ecosystem services such as clean air, water and biodiversity which are essential for our well-being and economic prosperity.”

Vutukuru commended Nigeria for having “very bold ambitions” as far as responding to climate change was concerned saying, “That shows the commitment of the policy makers here towards the issue of climate.

“But I think to back up that aspiration and the aggressive goals that Nigeria has set for itself, the foundational thing for those goals to materialize those objectives to come true is a very strong natural account system.”

Head of Media, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), Chioma Azie who represented her Director General, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe at the event, described Nigeria as a very ambitious country, stressing that natural resources was instrumental to achieving all the objective of climate action.

She said: “Technology, policy reforms, behavioral changes has a role to play but natural resources is very key because they’re underpinning the mitigation and adaptation for climate action.

“If you look at Nigeria’s NDC, the NCA is an avenue to provide raw materials that we could use to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.

“If you look at what we have done in terms of this NDC in 2020.which is the second leg of the NDC, we identified a lot of mitigation activities within this mentioned sectors of ours. In agricultural sector we talked about smart agriculture. What is smart agriculture without natural resources?

“We talked about biomass, what is biomass without natural resources? We also spoke about land use changes and that is natural resources, we talk about natural solutions and we talked about also afforestation, reafforestation. Those are mitigation potentials of our NDC. So, we cannot achieve our NDC without SEEA.

“What you cannot be able to account for is recorded as if it is not done so if we know what is existing in terms of the reservoirs we have for natural resources, it can inform the scope of the mitigation activities we’re going to be imputing in the NDC 3.0,” she said.

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

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NIMC Insists All Its Verification Services, Functional, Accessible

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NIMC Insists All Its Verification Services, Functional, Accessible
.. Says Police Service Commission Not Denied Access

By: Michael Mike

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said all its verification service platforms are functional and accessible to all partners including all security agencies.

The Commission, in a statement on Thursday by its spokesman, Dr. Kayode Adegoke said it is aware of the purported ”inability of the Police Service Commission (PSC) to access the NIMC verification server,” insisting that the “information is not only misleading but also inaccurate.”

Adegoke said: “To set the record straight, the NIMC granted verification access to all Nigerian Police formations for the verification of the National Identification Number (NIN). The NPF, PSC and other security agencies have been enjoying uninterrupted verification services for over five years.

“NIMC has provided top-notch verification services for recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force, as conducted by the PSC and at no time have there been any complaints or issues regarding NIN Verification by the NPF or PSC.”

Adegoke, in the statement, claimed that: “The Commission has a robust and harmonious working relationship with the Nigerian Police Force and the Police Service Commission. The Information Communications and Technology (ICT) department of the Nigeria Police Force is actively managing the long-standing verification and integration service between the NIMC and all Nigeria Police formations. NIMC will continue to provide flawless verification services for the purpose of recruitment, security mapping, cybercrime control, and any other security matters.”

He explained that: “The framework by which NIMC provides services to the security agencies was recently restructured for standardization and effective implementation, following consultation with the Office of the National Security Adviser, and NPF has confirmed the verification services have continued to be available. We therefore believe that any service interruption experienced by PSC may be due to internal matters.”

He promised that: “NIMC is committed to providing excellent verification services to the PSC, NPF and all its partners but the terms and conditions inherent must be adhered to for uninterrupted flow of service.”

NIMC Insists All Its Verification Services, Functional, Accessible

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