The Lagos State Security Trust Fund’s Campaign Against Crime, Cultism and Other Vices, LSSTF-CACCOV and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Lagos Strategic Command, have begun a strategic partnership to strengthen drug abuse prevention, youth development and rehabilitation efforts across Lagos.

The partnership followed a courtesy visit by the LSSTF-CACCOV State Coordinator, Dr Moses Oladimeji, to the NDLEA Lagos Strategic Headquarters in Ikoyi, where both sides stressed the need to complement enforcement with sustained public education, rehabilitation, community engagement and youth empowerment.

Oladimeji said the volume of narcotics seized in Lagos highlighted the need for a coordinated approach to tackling drug abuse and trafficking, particularly among young people and vulnerable communities.

Recalling an NDLEA event where drugs worth more than N3.1 billion were destroyed, he said the scale of the seized substances underscored the seriousness of the problem.

“When you see the amount of drugs that was piled up to be burnt, you begin to ask yourself: where are these things coming from, and how are we going to solve this issue? It shows that this problem is a major one for us, and we have to address it,” Oladimeji said.

He linked drug abuse with insecurity, violent crime, cultism and the loss of young people’s potential, stressing that the response must extend beyond arrests and seizures.

Oladimeji said LSSTF-CACCOV had since its establishment on February 28 taken its preventive campaign to institutions including Yaba College of Technology and the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, reaching more than 3,000 students through sensitisation and engagement activities.

He said the campaign was based on a non-kinetic approach centred on empathy, education and meaningful relationships rather than condemnation.

“If the issue of drugs can be tackled, then the issue of insecurity and crime will be reduced to the barest minimum. That is why we must take these messages to every nook and cranny, schools, campuses, communities, religious gathering, motor parks and other places where young people gather,” he said.

The LSSTF-CACCOV coordinator called for closer collaboration with the NDLEA, including the participation of its personnel in CACCOV programmes and the identification of successful rehabilitation cases that could encourage people struggling with addiction to seek help.

He proposed that recovery stories of individuals who had overcome drug addiction through NDLEA-supported rehabilitation programmes be documented and shared as part of joint advocacy activities.

According to him, presenting such stories at platforms including the LSSTF Town Hall Meeting would demonstrate the impact of rehabilitation, encourage people battling addiction to seek assistance and build public confidence in recovery programmes.

Responding, the Commander of the NDLEA Lagos Strategic Command, Assistant Commander General of Narcotics, ACGN Abubakar Liman Wali, welcomed the proposed collaboration and explained that Lagos had been upgraded from a state command to a strategic command because of its importance to the country’s drug control efforts.

Wali said Lagos’ position as Nigeria’s commercial hub, with major seaports, airports and border routes, made it a significant entry point for illicit substances.

“Looking at Lagos as the commercial hub, with a lot of seaports, airports and border ports, and the bulk of drugs coming through these routes, the Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd), deemed it necessary to upgrade Lagos State to a Strategic Command headed by an Assistant Commander General of Narcotics,” he said.

He said tackling drug abuse and trafficking in Lagos would have significant implications for the national drug control effort.

“If we are able to solve the problem of drug abuse and trafficking in Lagos, almost 90 per cent of drug abuse in this country will be addressed,” Wali stated.

The Commander said the NDLEA had expanded its approach under its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), to include prevention, sensitisation and rehabilitation alongside enforcement, seizures, arrests and prosecution.

“Before the coming of the present Chairman, what NDLEA had done was largely to arrest, prosecute and carry out enforcement activities. But now, we are into sensitisation, rehabilitation and prevention. That is the aspect he has given priority,” Wali said.

He stressed that prevention was more economical than waiting until individuals became addicted.

“Prevention is less costly. When somebody becomes addicted, you will spend more. But with a little awareness, people can be educated about the implications of what they are taking,” he said.

Wali disclosed that the Lagos Strategic Command currently had six functional operational vehicles, three of which were provided through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, and appealed for continued institutional support to strengthen patrol operations, intelligence sharing and community interventions.

He also urged LSSTF-CACCOV to collaborate with the NDLEA on campus security training involving school administrators, counsellors, psychologists and student-led advocacy clubs.

According to him, young people could be more receptive to preventive messages when such messages were delivered by their peers.

Wali disclosed that each NDLEA area command in Lagos was expected to conduct at least 10 sensitisation programmes monthly across schools, faith-based organisations, communities and marketplaces.

He invited LSSTF-CACCOV personnel to participate in the programmes, describing the partnership as an opportunity for both organisations to share expertise and expand their reach.

The engagement emphasised the need for sustained prevention, early intervention, rehabilitation and reintegration involving families, schools, religious institutions, communities, government agencies and civil society organisations.

Other members of the NDLEA Lagos Strategic Command management team at the meeting included Deputy State Commander, CN James Akogwu Elayoni; Deputy Commander, Operations and Training, CN Adisa Bolaji Toyin; Deputy Commander, Administration and Logistics, DCN MS Abba; Assistant State Commander, Financial Investigation, DCN Ali Bulama; and Chief of Staff, ACN EE Ukpong.

Members of the LSSTF-CACCOV team included Assistant State Coordinator, Mrs Uzezi Akinwoleola; Head, Human Resources and Training, Prominence Promise; Head, Education, Advocacy and Empowerment, Joseph Akinwoleola; Head, Strategy, Digital Communication and Technology, Olugbogi Nathanael; and Head of Programmes and Outreaches, Meshole Emmanuel.