‘Dearth of judges stalling drug offenders’ trial
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Anambra State has said the dearth of Federal High Court judges is hampering the prosecution of drug offenders in the area.
The state Commander of the agency, Mr. Sule Momodu, who stated this during a press briefing at the command’s office in Awka, the state capital, on Tuesday decried a situation where only two judges were posted to serve the entire state.
Momodu said for the war against drug offenders to be diligently pursued, more judges would be needed.
He said the agency secured 30 convictions last year out of 289 suspects prosecuted.
The commander said out of the 289 suspects, 21 were females, noting that last year’s statistics of arrests showed a decrease in the number of arrests (in 2014) which was 395.
He said that 458.622kilogrammes of drugs were seized last year as against 704.689kgs in 2014, showing that the command had the capacity of stopping the influx of illicit drugs into the state.
Momodu said that the drugs were 455.144kgs of cannabis sativa, 196.6 grammes of cocaine, 156.9 grammes of heroin and 3.125kgs of psychotropic agents, as against 704.278kgs of cannabis, 117.3grms of cocaine, 16.6grms of heroin and 117.2grms of psychotropic agents in 2014.
He maintained that the agency executed 82 operations from 148 approved surveillances in 2015, as against 73 executed operations from 125 approved surveillances in 2014.
The commander said that the agency rehabilitated 55 males and one female in 2015 and that the victims had reunited with their families, as against 39 males in 2014.
Momodu appealed to Governor Willie Obiano for the construction of a modern rehab centre which he (the governor) had already given land approval.
He said two suspects from Edo State (names withheld)were on January 9 intercepted with 124.3kgs of cannabis sativa in an Avalon XLS car, with registration number BEN 988AK at Okija in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state.
He said that another suspect, Chukwuma Ibisi, from Onitsha was also arrested on the same day at Inland Town, Onitsha, with 1.790kgs of cannabis sativa, stressing that the suspects would be prosecuted soon.
Momodu called for the support and cooperation of the public to help to further reduce the drug scourge in the state.
“The fight against drug is the beginning of fight against criminality. Let us join hands together to fight the drug scourge in the state to the barest minimum. The command will not rest until the mandate is fully achieved,’’ he said.