U.S. Donates Eleven Vehicles to NDLEA, Boosts Nigeria’s Counter-Narcotic Efforts

                                 

 Emeka Ibemere

As part of continuing support from the United States to the government and people of Nigeria, the U.S. donated eleven pick-up trucks and transport vans today to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The vehicles are the latest U.S. donation to the NDLEA to assist counter-narcotics efforts.

“The United States will continue to support the NDLEA and the country of Nigeria to combat the proliferation of drug trafficking and drug abuse. This is a responsibility we share as democratic nations,” said U.S. Consul General Francis John Bray, who handed over the vehicles to the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah in Lagos.

Since the establishment of the NDLEA in 1990, the U.S. Mission to Nigeria has partnered with the NDLEA and has increased U.S. bilateral assistance for combating narcotics trafficking in Nigeria.   In the past four years, the United States has provided more than US$10 million in training and equipment to the NDLEA.

The U.S. Consulate General in Lagos, in partnership with the U.S. Africa Command (U.S. AFRICOM) and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, has sponsored over 100 training courses since 2013 for the NDLEA, and trained 1,580 students.  The agency has received training in intelligence, evidence collection, management skills, tactical skills, and instructor training.

In taking possession of the pick-up trucks and transport vans, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah expressed optimism that the vehicles will help the anti-narcotics agency in its fight against drug trafficking.

“It is on account of the mentorship and support that we get from the U.S. that we have been able to record some of our successes,” said NDLEA Chairman Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah.