The French government has pledged to enhance collaboration and support for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the battle against drug trafficking and abuse.
This assurance was made by French Police Attaché in Nigeria, Philippe Crespo, during a courtesy visit to the NDLEA in Abuja on Saturday.
The visit followed the successful completion of a series of special operations training sessions for officers of the Strike Force Unit at the NDLEA Academy in Jos, marking the third such training in the last two years.
Speaking during the visit, Crespo commended NDLEA Chief Executive Officer, Buba Marwa for the warm reception always accorded the French team.
He also commended Marwa’s willingness to collaborate with local and international partners in his determined effort to curb the scourge of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria.
He said that the success of NDLEA’s operations was not only helping to protect Nigerians and Nigerian cities but also communities in foreign lands.
This, he said, was through the agency’s interdiction efforts that had led to huge seizures of assorted illicit drug consignments heading to Europe and other parts of the world.
He, however, proposed that the growing partnership should be documented in a memorandum of understanding in the New Year.
In his remarks, the NDLEA boss expressed appreciation to the French government for its support and partnership.
“I remember in 2022 when I visited the headquarters of RAID in France on the invitation and I made a request for this type of training, I never knew it was something that would come so fast and this consistently. Soon after that visit, a team of experts were sent to train our personnel and I am glad this is the third such exercise,” he said.
“The drug problem is huge and worldwide, and as such, we require global partnership, collaboration and every bit of expertise we can acquire to confront the drug cartels and put an end to their activities which pose a direct threat to public health and the security of countries across the globe.
“It is therefore a thing of joy that our collaboration is not just growing at the level of drug law enforcement, but we can see the growing partnership between our two leaders: President Bola Tinubu and President Emmanuel Macron; our governments and our countries; this will in no small measure bring great benefits to both sides”, Marwa stated.
