‘Why we want Tinubu to scrap NDLEA’
By Babajide Adekunle
Reactions have continued to trail the presidential pardon granted to 157 ex-convicts, particularly those serving jail terms for drug pushing.
President Bola Tinubu, in exercise of his constitutional
prerogative of mercy, unprecedentedly freed 70 drug convicts.
The presidency said Tinubu acted on the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, headed by his minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
The pardon has raised a hoopla on social media, with users lamenting the implications for Nigeria’s anti-drug fight. The commenters derisively suggested that President Tinubu may as well scrap the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
Opposition politician, Sen. Dino Melaye, said the pardoning such a huge number of drug convicts “has made a beautiful nonsense of all the efforts of the agency (NDLEA)”
“Pardon granted 70 drug lords by Pres Tinubu is unprecedented in history … My advise (sic) to the President is to scrap the NDLEA,” Melaye tweeted on mirco-blogging platform X.
@Omoakindayini opined that if he was the NDLEA chairman, “I would just resign after seeing that list.” He added, “How can I be stressing myself trying to get convictions for drug lords and my employer would be releasing them. What exactly are we doing? Let’s legalize the whole thing and close down NDLEA. Elderly evil men.”
Also expressing concern for the wider implication of the action, @kayodebakre8 believes it would demoralise agents fighting drug pushers.
“Imagine you being a member of NDLEA and you catch someone snuggling drugs. He offers you 500k dollars to look away. But as a patriot you insist no. 6 years later he gets pardoned and smiles at you while cruising in his car while you are still on your N280k salary,” he tweeted.
In her opinion, former presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie said, “Who is not seriously concerned about the feelings, right now of our gallant and brave men and women of the @ndlea_nigeria who daily, put their lives on the line to catch and prosecute drug mules and drug barons, only for Pres Tinubu to send them right back into our streets? Sad!”
Another commenter, @sen_adekunle lamented the murder of his friend, who was an NDLEA agent, by some drug involvers.
“Early this year, we lost a friend who just joined NDLEA. He died in one of their operations to arrest some drug cartels. He was brutally murdered by those guys. I’m imagining how the NDLEA is feeling seeing the government release those who killed their men on the basis of pardon,” he said.
Bayo Onanuga, the President’s special adviser on media and strategy, as saying that “President Tinubu granted clemency to most of them based on the reports that the convicts had shown remorse and good conduct.”
He also said that some of the beneficiaries were pardoned “due to old age, the acquisition of new vocational skills, or enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).”
