The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it will continue to liaise with port users to halt the influx of contraband drugs and narcotics.
The Assistant Controller-General of NDLEA (ACGN), Mrs Omolade Faboyede, made the pledge during a working visit to the Association Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) in Lagos on Tuesday.
Faboyede, who described ANLCA as an association of professionals in the maritime sector, said partnering them in the fight against illicit drug influx would be impactful.
According to her the port users are the foot-soldiers and the first-line recipient of imported and exported cargo documents with their aid in the area of volunteering information the anti-drug crusade will be successful.
“If you will assert within yourselves that no drug will pass through the ports into the society it will remain so and the society will be better off devoid of drug abuse by youth.
“The port is the highest place drug enters the country. If through your help we can, to a large extent curb the prevalence of drug abuse in the country we should forge ahead in the fight against violence crime in the country because the use of drugs such as narcotics have been linked with crime.
“As stakeholders in nation building, there is every need for us to protect our national security in order for us to have a place to do our business as business cannot thrive in an unsecured environment,’’ she said.
Faboyede expressed regret about the use of narcotics among the youths, saying that the agency was tightening all loopholes to clamp-down peddler with a view to prosecuting them.
She said that with the partnership with port users, especially freight forwarders, delays experienced in the release of flagged-down cargoes on drug related issues would be minimised.
The President of ANLCA, Mr Iju Tony-Nwabunike, said the partnership, which would be the first of its kind, would afford the agency and the association the leeway to prune all grey areas in port operations.
The ANCLA president frowned at incidents of unwarranted arrests and long detention of freight forwarders in drug-related containers.
He said that with the new found relationship such matters would be quickly resolved.
“Our members are victims of others trade infractions. We have so many of our members who at one time or other been incarcerated for no just cause.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the visit was the first in the series of stakeholders interface with the NDLEA.
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