NDLEA, Customs sign MoU

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) and the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (Retd) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU to enhance the ongoing onslaught against illicit drugs in the country

This, both organisations, believed will inflict maximum loss on drug cartels bent on trafficking illicit substances at the detriment of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Speaking at a brief ceremony at the NDLEA National Headquarters in Abuja, Gen. Marwa expressed his delight at the decision by the two government agencies to document their working relationship in an MoU.

He said it would be of huge benefit to the country.

He said “This is certainly a benchmark for information and or intelligence sharing. It is also a platform for sharing of operational and administrative experiences with a view to adopting best practices that work. With this united front, there can only be one assurance that the criminal elements in our society will definitely be the losers and I assure you that they will certainly lose big as we come for them to put them where they rightly belong and cripple their crime syndicates.

“While there is no doubt as to the benefits that this MoU will provide to our two services and the nation at large, it is my hope that its successful execution and implementation will provide the necessary impetus for extension to other sister law enforcement agencies (LEAs) operating at our airports, seaports and land borders. On this basis, it is imperative to drive the implementation of the MoU to ensure that its objectives and derivable are achieved.

“Therefore, on behalf of the NDLEA, I assure you of our commitment to this MoU and intend to provide all the necessary support required to drive the implementation process in order to ensure the realization of all accruable benefits. As it is usually said, together we stand and remain undefeatable.”

While stating the great significance of the MoU, Marwa said the document contains a number of innovations that will encourage interpersonal relationship amongst the rank and file as well as at the various levels of command and administration of the two organizations.