By Chukwujekwu Ilozue Reporter, Onitsha

Anambra State Commander of Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr. Ibrahim Abdul, on Monday paraded seven persons arrested for possession of over 200 kilograms of Indian Hemp in Onitsha.

He vowed that his agency would work with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to rid the state and Onitsha in particular of drug peddlers.

Abdul, who said that the two sister agencies have been collaborating to reduce the incidence of drug peddling and abuse in the state, expressed worry that Indian Hemp business was going on unchallenged at the Onitsha Bridge Head Drug Market, closed down recently by NAFDAC.

He said that three of the seven suspects were arrested within one month he took over the mantle of leadership of the agency.

He named the suspects as Emmanuel Ogwuche, found with 83.9kg of Indian hemp, Chigozie Okeke, 12.7kg and Vincent Nwosu 4kg, adding that his team, which replaced the one flushed out in the city by its headquarters would give Onitsha a face-lift.

Abdul assured that he would not only apprehend the couriers, but the barons who were the real offenders in the illicit trade, arguing that it was abnormality to arrest the couriers without their suppliers.

Stating that the state, especially Onitsha was considered as a volatile place in drug trafficking business, which accounted for the current initiative, he lamented a situation where Nigeria’s productive population were involved in drug trafficking, stressing that drug trafficking and abuse were the most dangerous trends militating the world after financial crime and terrorism.

Challenging Nigerians to get involved in the campaign against drug trafficking and abuse, he said that the fight is a collective one, which should involve everybody.

The way people smoke indian hemp these days at public places makes one feel that it is now allowed by law. In days gone bye, it used to be done discreetely and you dare not let people know you are a hemp smoker, but now it is free for all. The law enforcement agencies need to do more and save the smokers from destroying themselves.