Presidential Advisory Committee on Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA) headed by Buba Marwa on Thursday held an interactive session with stakeholders to deliberate on ways to further to tackle the menace of drug abuse in Nigeria.
The interactive session is coming after recent reports of three young people that died after a spate of drug abuse.
The President sees the issue as one of great concern and thus the committee was formed to address it, speaking at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Buba Marwa, chairman of the committee, said.
“The team has been set up by the president to tackle the issue of drug abuse bedevilling the country. Drug abuse is something that affects us all in one-way or another. It is a huge challenge, but it is surmountable. The president has the political will to make sure this scourge is brought to a halt as soon as possible,” Marwa said.
“The stakeholders face huge challenges in the execution of their jobs and that is why the committee is here to find out what these challenges ate and how to support you. The government wants to support you to prevent the import and export of these substances, ” he said.
The chairman also stated a lot of innocent passengers have been implicated in these drug related crimes as preliminary investigations have found out that these passengers have had luggage not belonging to them tagged in their names.
He said the government is working hard to prevent such occurrences from happening and wants the security agencies to collaborate to get the job done.
Stakeholders and security agencies present at the session, noted that the challenges were numerous some of which included a better remuneration package for airport auxiliary staff, adding that it is to minimize the temptation to partake in illicit acts such as enablement of drug traffickers.
Stakeholders also identified development of ICT as key to minimising human contact with luggage, continuous training of officers, proper funding of concerned agencies as well as public enlightenment would go a long way in the fight against drug trafficking .
“Due to insider threats, about 15 people are currently being prosecuted. Investigations have shown that there is need to vet before employment of airport staff and continuous vetting on the job as well as an increase in the salaries of these airport staff,” Marwa said.
