The frontline traditional ruler in Delta State, Dein of Agbor, His Royal Majesty Benjamin Ikenchuku Gbenoba, has met with the Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig-Gen Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), to seek a partnership that will end the activities of drug dealers in his kingdom.
In his welcome remarks, Marwa expressed the readiness of the agency to collaborate with all stakeholders, including traditional rulers and community gatekeepers, to ensure that the scourge of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking is stamped out of communities across the country.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, of the NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Friday that Marwa told his guest that the agency is currently deploying personnel to the local government areas to establish its presence at the grassroots to further the advocacy against substance abuse and enforce the law against those dealing in illicit drugs at that level.
“Towards that, we met with the leadership of ALGON last week to make this process seamless, and we welcome the support and partnership with all stakeholders for successful implementation of all our drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts through a whole-of-society approach,” the NDLEA boss stated.
The monarch, in his remarks, said, “We’ve been having some issues with drug dealers in Agbor. We’ve tried to handle it once or twice, but we’d like to at least be able to provide some land to have NDLEA come to Agbor. My main hope is Gen. Marwa right here.
“Since he came on board at NDLEA, you people have been reinvigorated. And I have seen that since he came on board, the drug dealers are now more hesitant, and we need more of that. So, we continue to learn from his experience and continue to make sure that this agency is strengthened as much as we can.”.
He said his desire to bring NDLEA into his kingdom is to eliminate the activities of drug dealers and protect his people from the devastating effects of illicit substances destroying the lives of youths and adults all over the world. He added that his partnership with NDLEA is to send a strong message to drug dealers that their time is up in his kingdom.
According to him, “I always try to tell criminals that life is left and right, good and bad, up and down. If you are intelligent enough to be selling drugs, then you deserve to go to jail. You deserve to be incarcerated because that intelligence can also lead you to sell houses or to sell goods.
“Do something that doesn’t affect people negatively. Because every drug dealer doesn’t want their children taking these hard drugs. But they don’t mind their neighbour next door taking such drugs. It is destroying us as a nation.
“Kidnappers are now using these illicit drugs to go about their nefarious activities. The reduction of it in our society will bring down the crime rate, robberies, and so on.
So, my message to the drug dealers is: beware; you are on notice; we do not want you in Agbor; we do not want you in our country.
“For those who are taking drugs, once you have taken them, it is a life-or-death decision you are making. You can take it for the first time, and you can die. You destroy your family, and you destroy the people around you. So, as much as possible, choose life over death on these drugs,” he admonished.
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