THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, says it has stringent measures against any form of corrupt act by its personnel while urging motorists and road users in Nigeria to report unwholesome activities by agency officials.
In its radio programme, ‘Public Conscience,’ produced by Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the agency has put measures in place to fight corruption internally and would not hesitate to wield the big stick on any staff found culpable of fraud.
He said officials know that what awaits them was dismissal and prosecution if they were found guilty of extortions and bribes.
NDLEA was reacting to an investigative report published by Human Angle Media, which alleges that officials of the agency and five other security agencies were extorting motorists and road users at checkpoints on Maiduguri highways, Borno State.
Babafemi, however, insisted that the agency staff were not known for extorting motorists on Nigerian roads because they understand the enormity of engaging in corrupt acts, which attracts both sack and prosecution according to the law.
He added that the agency officials deployed in various checkpoints across Nigeria were trained to do their job professionally.
He said: “When you see officers of the agency on the highway, their responsibility purely is to check for drugs and not anything else, and so if you’re not trafficking or carrying drugs, you have no business with them.
“Rather, what people complain about NDLEA personnel on the roads is a delay in time used in searching vehicles which I don’t encourage,” Babafemi noted.
On measures to check corruption within the agency, he explained, “NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa set up monitoring units that report to him directly and a taskforce team that investigates activities of personnel and handout disciplinary measures.
“Public service rules are taken seriously, and this helps make the personnel behave well. Also, recruiting people into the agency is top-notch, and this is to ensure persons of integrity are recruited into NDLEA,” he said.
Babafemi called on Nigerians to assist the agency in spreading the advocacy against the trafficking of illicit drugs and substance use, stressing that many harmful substances are seized from highways, and people are arrested for trafficking drugs now and then.
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