NDLEA arrests 203 suspects in Niger

The Niger State Command of the National Drug and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested 203 suspects and seized 2,770 kilograms of various hard drugs in the last six months. The Niger State Commander, Joseph Iweajunwa made this disclosure yesterday while marking the United Nations Day against Drug Abuse and Trafficking in Minna. He also said that 14 youths have been counseled and rehabilitated in the last six months. The Commander lamented that psychotropic drugs have become major drugs of abuse adding that the increase in this abuse could be connected to the massive production by pharmaceutical companies who are cashing in on the growing demands for the drugs which are not for medical purposes. A breakdown of the drugs seized revealed that 2,484.9kg of Tramadol was seized while 253.17kg of Cannabis Sativa was seized. According to him “there is no doubt that the efforts of the NDLEA in arresting the problem of cannabis sativa has given some positive result as the availability of cannabis on our streets have been greatly reduced to the extent that the criminals are now importing them from other countries like Ghana and Benin Republic. “This year is not different, for the first half of this year which is between January and June, the Niger state Command has been able to make a total seizure of 2,770.451kg of various drugs and we have arrested a total of 203 suspects.” Iweajunwa also bemoaned that the Agency has been neglected and grossly underfunded which has made it unable to carry out its statutory responsibilities especially in the area of drug demand reduction activities.Russian Government delegation and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) announced during the week that they are exploring areas of possible economic cooperation. The Russian Government and her Trade Mission met their Nigerian counterparts in a programme organised by the LCCI tagged RuNiTrade (Russia and Nigeria Trade launching ceremony), an E-commerce platform where areas of possible cooperation were encapsulated. LCCI President, Mrs. Nike Akande said the Nigerian and Russian economies have similarities in some ways, saying that both economies are oil producing countries and are also rich in natural gas. She, however, noted that the Russian economy is much bigger and more advanced technologically. ‎While stressing the need to diversify the Nigerian economy through increased ‎global trade, Akande regretted the low level of trade between both countries. She pointed out that with a closer cooperation between the private sector of both economies, the level of trade can be improved. “We can benefit a lot from Russian technology in many fields. There are also tremendous opportunities for cooperation and investment ‎relations in infrastructure development, especially power and engineering infrastructure,” she said, adding that LCCI was excited by its collaboration with the Russian business on the e-commerce platform. She said the launching of the platform will further boost trade and investment relations between both countries. “There is great value in deploying technology to promote trade. Already, e-commerce has gained wide acceptance in our retail trade sector,” Akande said. She added that as a country, Nigeria has a lot to offer in business and economic ‎relations. She said, for instance, that the Nigerian economy offers the largest market on the African continent. “Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over $500 billion is the largest on the continent. We are richly endowed with natural resources. Our macroeconomic fundamentals are still strong despite the current global issues with commodity prices. “We have one of the most enterprising population in the world and our democracy is stable for the past 17 years,” she said, assuring that the Chamber would extend all necessary support to‎ improve trade and investment relations between both countries. “I believe there is a great deal of benefit in the promotion of trade relations between countries. It makes it possible for countries across the world to complement one another. No country of the world has ‎competitive advantage in everything,” Akande added. The President, Russia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Vladimir Zubov, said a platform such as RuNiTrade has been a long awaited and necessary tool, which the business community needs not only in Russia but also in other developing countries. He added that the project gives participants the opportunity to promote new products, which serves as a bold step forward for trade development, investments and international relationships between both countries. “We are ready to support Business to Business (B2B)-RuNiTrade project on its way to success. I have high hopes for this project and I believe that according to the recent events and agreements reached on political and economic issues, we will work towards organizing more trade missions between our countries. This will help us continue the development of mutually beneficial partnership and cooperation in the area of trade and investment,” Zubov said. qHead, Russian Export Centre, Mr. Pavel Borisov, in his presentation encouraged Nigerian businesses, especially those in banking and insurance to key into the programme. He said Russia has engaged smaller countries such as South Africa and Sudan in various segments of the economy. He said since his country shares certain similarities with Nigeria any partnership would be mutually beneficial.
(The Nation)