Fear grips NDLEA staff over postings…may move headquarters to Abuja

By

Emeka Ibemere

If available information reaching DailyCrimeReporters.com is anything to go by, then majority of the staffs of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the No 4 Shaw Road Ikoyi, Lagos State, the present headquarters of the agency may move to Abuja, the federal Capital Territory, FCT,.

 The officers also are in a frenzy and fearful mood over an impending nation-wide posting being compiled by the Administration department of the agency. According to available information, The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah rtd, is planning relocating the headquarters of the agency for easy administration and close to the seat of power just like every other government Parastatals.

 It was gathered at the weekend that the nine months old leadership of the agency has concluded plans to carry out all embracing re-deployment of officers before the end of the week, along with the movement to Abuja.

According to our source, the action was a routine system of the agency but in the last 10 years, the former Chairman, Mallam Ahmadu Giade refused utterly to carry out the operation for the best reason known to him. The few postings he did our source also disclosed was to punish some staffs that disagreed with his system of leadership.

Our impeccable source in Abuja also claimed that some of the staffs have stayed 13 to 15 years in one post for long and few postings carried out by Giade favoured his friend-officers in the agency, while those in his ‘bad book’, were redeployed to areas said not to be juicy.

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah rtd was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari. He took over from Ahmadu Giade who completed his two-term tenure of 10 years in office on November 24, 2015.

This current posting would be the new chairman’s first serious assignment since coming into power. Meanwhile mixed feelings are trailing the purported posting of officers across more than 37 commands and special commands of the agency. Some of the officers were said to be happy while others are afraid of the impending postings. Under the crippling financial position of the agency, gloom and frustration has become the second nature of NDLEA officers. Greater majority of officers have not known promotion for an upward of 13 years.

Giade was said to have allegedly awarded double promotions to his cronies. These ugly injustices in the agency are what the officers said they want the new chairman to reverse. Attempt to reach Mitchell Ofoyeju to comment on this proved abortive.

Meanwhile another source claimed that movement to Abuja is subject to accommodation and that the agency has not gotten a place yet whiles the redeployment and postings are all subject of rumours and that it has not been made official. But our investigation shows that there are strong indications of the new changes coming up in the agency, soon.