Linus Aleke in Abuja
The former Director of Technical Services at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Sule Momodu, has called for increased and sustained funding for the agency to enhance its capacity to tackle the menace of illicit drug trafficking.
The retired Deputy Commander General also appealed to the governments at all levels to prioritise funding for the agency by upgrading it to a first-line charge.
Speaking during an interview on Arise NewsNight, the Fellow of the Security Institute expressed concern over the attitude of state governments towards the ongoing fight against drug trafficking, alleging that they were treating the issue with kid gloves.
He lamented that some commands of the agency lacked operational vehicles to perform their legally assigned duties.
According to Momodu: “Drug enforcement is basically an intelligence operation. So, you need to invest in the agency to enable it to gather enough information, process it and turn it into actionable intelligence, in order to continue to nip the problem in the bud.
“So, what the agency is doing now with the resources it has is very commendable. Again, I must also say that, for a very long time, what we have seen happening in the agency is that the government has not really been forthcoming. But, okay, they are trying; they need to do more.
“I do not know why the agency is not on the first-line charge. Look, we have all agreed that drugs are the mother of all crime. There can be drugs without crime, but there can be no crime without drugs.”
Speaking on the need for collective efforts in the fight against drug trafficking, Momodu said: The Federal Government needs to provide more funding and assets.
“The assets I had as a State Commander in Anambra included 14 vehicles. I had enough to strike, to operate and to do what I wanted to do. I think that is what the Federal Government needs to do for the agency. Again, State Governments treat the issue of drugs with kid gloves.
“And as long as that partnership is not well entrenched within the states, the problem will just keep lingering on. It is not something we should leave solely to the Federal Government. The states need to come in. The states need to come in when we talk about this issue of drug trafficking.”
Reiterating his call for more funding for the agency, the retired operative said: “You see, I said something a while ago. What we need to do to make the agency perform better than it is doing now is for the government to look back. Let me give you an example.
“My town, Auchi, has an Area Command. They do not have a single operational vehicle. Even if they have one, it is not what you would call an operational vehicle. The government needs to invest more and more in the operations of the agency. I have said this several times.”
He revealed that intelligence sharing from the Department of State Services (DSS) had continued to be very effective in the fight against drug trafficking.
He said: “Wherever I served, the DSS was always there to share intelligence with me. Therefore, for inter-agency cooperation to be very fruitful, when you receive intelligence from them, you should be able to go back to them and say, ‘What you have given me, this is what I have used it to do.’
“And if you secure a conviction, you should be able to go back to them and say, ‘That intelligence you gave me — this is what has happened.’
“When that synergy is there, they will continue to give you more and provide you with more intelligence.”