Adamawa state House of Assembly has expressed its readiness to partner with National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to enable the command succeed in its war against hard drugs in the state.
The speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Aminu Iya Abbas stated this while receiving the state Commander of the agency, Mohammed Bello who led other principal officers on familiarisation visit to the house yesterday.
Rt. Hon. Iya Abbas assured the command of the readiness of the hallowed chamber towards amending their existing laws so as to aid the command in its battle against the consumption of illicit substances.
He lamented that the number of youth and women that take hard drugs is on the increase in the society, and further pledged the willingness of the honourable house to give the agency maximum support towards checkmating it.
He told the command that they know the menace of such drugs on the lives of people and the economy of the society, assuring that the house under his leadership will look into the request of the command on sponsoring of enlightenment programmes, rehabilitation of drug addicts, amendment of its laws for it to succeed.
The member of the parliament expressed optimism that the state stands to benefit from the new commander considering his track record in arrest and seizure of hard drugs, and lauded the command for a job well-done.
Speaking earlier, the commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Adamawa state, Mohammed Bello said that he was in the speaker's office to familiarise himself with the house.
Mohammed Bello told the speaker that he assumed duty in the state in December 2019, and found it necessary to visit some key stakeholders to let them know about his mission in the state as well as seek for collaboration.
He disclosed that on assumption of office, the command succeeded in apprehending 54 suspected drug traffickers and seized 72.084 kilogram of assorted hard drugs from those arrested.
The commander informed the house that out of the 54 suspected drug peddlers nabbed from January 2020 to date, 5 had been convicted and now serving jail terms, assuring on the determination of the command to getting the state rid of drug trafficking.
According to him, if the issue of hard drugs is settled, 60 percent of other crimes will also be settled, saying that on his assumption of office in the state, his first assignment was clearing of Yola abattoir from hard drugs which he succeeded.
He appealed to the house to enact/amend its laws so as to control or ban consumption of rubber solution, goskolo (local jin) among others, explaining that some of the substances are not captured in the existing laws, and that the agency will identify them for the house.
Mohammed Bello said that his men are ready to go down to the constituencies of the members to enlighten people on the dangers of hard drugs, carry out rehabilitation with the support of the house.
In the same vein, the speaker of the house, Rt. Hon. Iya Abbas has urged Yola North Legislative Council to forward its request on the kind of intervention the council needed for consideration of the house.
The speaker who stated this while receiving the council led by its Clerk, Mrs Afiniki P. Makapi who led the council members on courtesy visit on the speaker yesterday, assured them that whenever the house organises programme, they will be invited so as to equip themselves with the functions of legislators.
Earlier in her address, the leader of the delegation, Mrs Afiniki P. Makapi commended the present Assembly for what it has been doing for the state, and appealed to house to assist Local Government Legislative Council so as to succeed in their activities.
In a related development, the Speaker of the house, has called on religious leaders in the state to liaise with the traditional leaders with a view to doing everything possible to end kidnapping in the state.
The speaker who made the call while receiving the newly elected executive council of Jamaatul Nasir Islam(JNI) on a courtesy call on the speaker, said that religious leaders have key role to play towards bringing about a lasting peace in the society.
He told them that the house has both Muslim and Christian members, but they are united and working on the same page for the common good of the state and tasked them to work together so as to bring about lasting peace in the society.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of JNI in the state, Alh. Gambo Jika said that the new exco found it pertinent to pay a visit to house so as introduce itself and pledged to work towards encouraging peaceful coexistence in the state.
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