NDLEA mulls long jail terms for drug offenders
Buba Marwa, the chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), has said agency is considering long jail sentences for drug offenders.
Marwa, a retired general and former Lagos military administrator, said this during a press briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“The jail terms we are looking at is a minimum of 15 years and maximum of 25 and life imprisonment. These are all in the NDLEA Act under revision by the National Assembly.
“There is no guarantee that the jail term will prevent drug offenders from plying their illicit trade. But it is a strong deterrent. If you face 25 years or life in prison and somehow you manage to come out in your old age, it’s difficult to return to that trade, ” said Marwa.
He also said the agency, between January 2021 and now, seized N100bn worth of drugs and arrested 9,355 traffickers. The agency, he added, equally counselled and rehabilitated 5,579 drug users.