The Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd) has said that he would use the ‘operation sweep’ policy to tackle drug menace in the country.
Marwa said this on Monday in Abuja at the inaugural NDLEA Commanders Summit, where 10 operation and utility vehicles were deployed to seven state commands and its headquarters in Abuja to enhance operations of the agency.
The ‘operation sweep’ was a special security outfit founded by Marwa, to tackle armed robbery and other crimes, when he was the Military Administration of Lagos State.
“We are going to work with relevant security agencies. We will bring our in due course a policy that would facilitate the passing of information discreetly. This helped us tremendously in the ‘operation sweep’ days.
“Because citizens are afraid of reporting criminals out of fear that the security agents exposed them. I will open my Lagos ‘operation sweep’ briefcase for some of the methodologies that we used that helped us.
“To the unbending drug crime perpetrators, I would like to let them know also that the game is up! It is high time they embraced another trade. The Federal Government Policy on Agriculture is a window for them to leverage on. In this war, we will be fair but we will be firm,” Marwa said.
He noted that operational and logistics issues had been a major challenge of the agency adding that his administration would ensure it was addressed totally.
He said that his vision was to reposition the agency to make it more purposeful, resourceful, responsive and responsible and assured the commanders that his administration was determined to overhaul the agency, administratively and operationally.
He said, “Last week, we located some vehicles that one of our partners had given to the agency four years ago. We have looked at the status of the various commands, those that are hard hit, although every command needs vehicle but some need it more than the others. For instance, Edo state command vehicles were burnt down during the EndSARS protest while Yobe state does not even have any.”
One Hilux pick–up each was given to Edo, Yobe, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun and Enugu state while two Hilux pick-up and one tactical team bus were deployed to the agency’s headquarters, Abuja.
