The Federal Executive Council approved a budget of N5.16 billion on Wednesday for the construction of two accommodation facilities that will contain 192 flats of various sizes for National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) personnel. The complex, to be built in Abuja, is expected to take the two contracted firms 60 weeks to complete. Attorney‑General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami disclosed the approval to State House correspondents after the Council meeting, chaired by President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Malami said the funding was justified by the need to protect NDLEA narcotics superintendents and assistants, who have become targets of retaliation due to intensified anti‑drug operations. He noted that those campaigns resulted in 18,940 arrests, the seizure of N40 billion worth of hard drugs, and 2,904 convictions during the first three quarters of 2022. The successes, however, have made NDLEA staff vulnerable to vindictive drug lords.
This approval follows a September decision, six months earlier, when the Council authorized N580.5 million for the purchase of four armoured vehicles for the agency—coinciding with NDLEA’s recovery of N194 billion worth of cocaine from an Ikorodu warehouse, the largest bust in its 33‑year history. It also arrives exactly one year after the Council approved N1.07 billion for eye‑scanning lie detectors and night‑vision goggles for NDLEA’s anti‑drug efforts.
Since March 2022, the total value of contracts sanctioned for the agency has reached N6.81 billion. More details will follow.
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