The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), has charged officers and men of the agency to remain resilient, describing the fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse as a generational responsibility that requires sustained commitment.
Marwa gave the charge on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at the 12th Chairman/Chief Executive Officer’s Commendations and Awards ceremony held at the NDLEA national headquarters in Abuja.
The ceremony recognised 274 NDLEA personnel for outstanding performance, alongside 18 best-performing commands and 19 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media organisations for their contributions to the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign.
Marwa said the drug war has no definite end date, warning that the persistent nature of drug trafficking requires officers and stakeholders to remain committed and adaptable.
“The war against illicit drugs is not a campaign with an end date. It is a generational responsibility,” he said, noting that dismantled cartels could be replaced by new ones and that traffickers would continue searching for alternative routes whenever existing corridors were shut down.
The NDLEA boss stressed that the fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse could not be won through enforcement alone. He praised NGOs for working within communities to help young people overcome addiction and commended journalists for telling difficult stories about drug trafficking, rehabilitation and families recovering from substance abuse.
Marwa described civil society organisations and the media as critical partners whose efforts extend the agency’s message into homes, schools and communities beyond the reach of enforcement officers.
He said the recognition of 19 NGOs and media organisations was “the beginning of a tradition, not a closed chapter,” assuring that future editions of the awards would continue to identify and honour individuals and organisations contributing to the fight against drug abuse.
Marwa also highlighted major recent NDLEA operations, including the dismantling of the Amadi Simon drug cartel, the takedown of two Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine cartels operating in forests in Ogun and Oyo states, and the disruption of a tramadol cartel operating along the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor.
According to him, the operations were achieved through patient intelligence gathering, cross-border cooperation and the determination of officers to pursue criminals into difficult and remote locations.
He urged NDLEA officers to regard the award recipients as a standard to aspire to rather than a ceiling, while encouraging civil society and media partners to see the recognition as an invitation to do more.
Marwa congratulated all the recipients and commended their families and Nigerians for continuing to support and trust the agency in the fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse.
