Framing the war on drugs as a marathon rather than a sprint, NDLEA Boss Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) has challenged his officers to dig deep and sustain their anti-narcotics momentum.
Marwa warned that the persistent tactics of drug cartels demand nothing less than unwavering resilience, elevating the agency’s law enforcement mandate to a vital, generational mission
According to an official statement released on Thursday, August 13 by NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the Chairman issued the charge during the prestigious 12th Chief Executive Officer’s Commendations and Awards ceremony at the agency’s national headquarters in Abuja
The high-profile event served to decorate 274 personnel for exceptional frontline duty, while rewarding 18 best-performing commands for their tactical brilliance.
The agency also extended top honors to 19 NGOs and media platforms, cementing a united public-private front in Nigeria’s ongoing War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative
Emphasizing the long-term nature of the mission, Marwa declared, “The war against illicit drugs is not a campaign with an end date. It is a generational responsibility. For every cartel we dismantle, intelligence tells us another will attempt to rise. For every corridor we shut down, traffickers will search for another route.” His warning underscored the relentless adaptability of global drug syndicates and the need for continuous vigilance.
The NDLEA boss noted that enforcement alone cannot win the battle, praising the unsung heroes working outside the law enforcement spectrum. He lauded non-governmental organizations for working quietly within communities to rescue vulnerable youths from the brink of addiction. Similarly, he commended journalists for braving the odds to expose trafficking rings and shed light on the arduous paths to rehabilitation and family recovery.
Recognizing that many more deserving organizations and media platforms operate across Nigeria, Marwa described the current awards as “the beginning of a tradition, not a closed chapter.” He gave an assurance that subsequent editions of the ceremony will actively identify and honor other dedicated stakeholders contributing to the anti-drug crusade.
“The fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse was never going to be won by enforcement alone. It is won in the communities where NGOs quietly walk young people back from the edge of addiction. It is won in the newsrooms where journalists chose to tell the difficult stories, the stories of trafficking routes, of rehabilitation, of families rebuilding, even when those stories were not the easiest to tell. Our partners in civil society and the media have been the multiplier effect on everything this Agency does. You have taken our message into homes, schools, and communities that our uniforms alone could never reach.”
Pointing to concrete victorimmmm Marwa highlighted high-profile operations that define the agency’s modern grit. These milestones included the total dismantling of the notorious Amadi Simon syndicate, the takedown of two clandestine Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine cartels hidden deep within the forests of Ogun and Oyo States, and the disruption of a major tramadol pipeline exploiting the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor. He fiercely condemned the West African route, noting it had for years fed a devastating crisis of opioid abuse among Nigerian youth.
Reflecting on the sheer grit behind these operations, the NDLEA boss emphasized the strategic brilliance required for such takedowns. “These were not simple raids. They were the product of patient intelligence-gathering, cross-border cooperation, and officers willing to go where the criminals believed no one would follow,” he noted.
Closing with a challenge, Marwa urged the agency’s personnel to look at the day’s honorees not as a ceiling to stop at, but as the new benchmark of excellence to strive for. Turning to the decorated civil society groups and media houses, he reframed the awards not as a comfortable retirement couch, but as a formal invitation to redouble their efforts in the national crusade against narcotics.
In his closing remarks, the NDLEA boss extended his heartfelt congratulations to all award recipients and commendation winners. He expressed deep gratitude to their families for their unwavering support, as well as to the Nigerian public for their continued trust and partnership in the agency’s mission to sanitize the nation.
According to him, “the war against illicit drugs is not a campaign with an end date. It is a generational responsibility. For every cartel we dismantle, intelligence tells us another will attempt to rise. For every corridor we shut down, traffickers will search for another route.”
He explained that the fight against drug trafficking could never be won by enforcement alone, noting that NGOs work quietly within communities to walk young people back from the edge of addiction, while journalists have told difficult stories on trafficking routes, rehabilitation, and family recovery that are not always easy to tell.
He acknowledged that many more deserving organisations and media platforms across the country exist beyond the honourees, describing the gesture as “the beginning of a tradition, not a closed chapter,” and assuring that subsequent editions of the ceremony will continue to identify and honour more individuals and organisations doing similar work.
“The fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse was never going to be won by enforcement alone. It is won in the communities where NGOs quietly walk young people back from the edge of addiction. It is won in the newsrooms where journalists chose to tell the difficult stories, the stories of trafficking routes, of rehabilitation, of families rebuilding, even when those stories were not the easiest to tell. Our partners in civil society and the media have been the multiplier effect on everything this Agency does. You have taken our message into homes, schools, and communities that our uniforms alone could never reach.”
Marwa highlighted some recent major operations that he said captured the character of the Agency: the dismantling of the Amadi Simon drug cartel; the takedown of two Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine cartels operating within forests in Ogun and Oyo States; and the disruption of a tramadol cartel exploiting the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor, which he described as a route that had for years fed a crisis of opioid abuse among Nigerian youth.
“These were not simple raids. They were the product of patient intelligence-gathering, cross-border cooperation, and officers willing to go where the criminals believed no one would follow”, he noted.
The NDLEA boss charged officers of the Agency to see the honourees as a standard to reach for rather than a ceiling to stop at, and urged partners in civil society and the media to view the recognition as an invitation to do more, not a reward to rest on.
Bringing the prestigious event to a close, Marwa applauded the day’s honorees for their exceptional grit and sacrifice. He extended a special thank you to their families for their quiet endurance, and saluted the Nigerian public for remaining steadfast partners in the ongoing crusade to sanitize the nation.
