‎Delta State Government has urged the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to intensity efforts to clampdown on drug cartels, dealers and suppliers in the state.
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‎The Director General, Delta State Orientation and Communications Bureau, Dr. Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, stated this when the new State Commander of NDLEA, Commander Halilu Hamidu, paid him an advocacy visit at the Bureau office in Asaba.
Dr Oghenesivbe expressed the commitment of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration to the actualization of a Drug Free Delta, going forward.
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‎He emphasized the urgent need for the NDLEA in the state to adopt new strategies in the fight against drug abuse, urging the command, to initiate result oriented strategic approach to flush out drug cartels and suppliers out of Delta State.
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‎Dr Oghenesivbe stated further, “I think it’s time to leave the terrain of occasional surveillances to a more constant focus on intelligence gathering and crackdown on drug cartel. Without traffickers and sellers, there will be no victims”
“It is important that NDLEA Strategically target the flag points, especially in the state capital. Governor Sheriff Oborevwori is determined to actualizing the State government’s target of a Drug Free Delta.
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‎”You need to work with the intelligence derived from suspects and the street sellers to reach the suppliers and the kingpins in drug dealings in order to secure the lives of Deltans, and the future of our children,” he stated.
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‎While lamenting that the consumption of illicit drugs is the major cause of high rate of criminal activities such as rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, ritual killings, road accidents and so on, he appealed to the NDLEA to curb the trend.
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‎In line with the Peace and Security cardinal points of the MORE Agenda of the Governor Oborevwori’s led government, Dr. Oghenesivbe added that the state government donated over 40 operational vehicles to security agencies in the state, of which NDLEA was a beneficiary.
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‎He reaffirmed the state government’s commitment in the counselling and rehabilitation of drug victims through the establishment of rehabilitation centers in Kwale and Agbor to ensure that victims of drug abuse are rehabilitated before they are reintegrated into society.
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‎He gave an assurance of a sustained collaboration with the NDLEA, especially through the forthcoming 2nd phase of the Drug Free Delta Sensitization Campaign, pointing out the state government was considering relocating NDLEA office from Ogwashi-Uku to Asaba to ensure more effective operations.
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‎The new State Commander of NDLEA, Commander Halilu Hamidu, said the visit was to key into the already existing relationship the NDLEA has with the state government, and to deepen it.
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‎He restated the resolve of NDLEA to change the narrative of drug abuse and trafficking in the state through three strategies namely, arrest and prosecution, sensitization and awareness creation, and harm reduction through rehabilitation.
‎Commander Hamidu who was accompanied on the visit by the Deputy State Commander, Victor Isibor and other officers, appealed to the state government to help him realize his goals through the provision of support and logistics.
Source: Sam Erhunmwunsee, Radio Nigeria Asaba
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