Abuj – The United States has donated 11 pick-up trucks and transport vans to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to boost Federal Government’s counter-narcotics efforts.
This is contained in a statement issued by the American Embassy in Abuja on Wednesday.
It explained that the US Consular General, Francis Bray said the vehicles were the latest US donation to the NDLEA to intensify its fight against hard drugs.
“The U.S. will continue to support the NDLEA and the country of Nigeria to combat the proliferation of drug trafficking and drug abuse.
“This is a responsibility we share as democratic nations said Bray, who handed over the vehicles to the NDLEA Chairman, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah in Lagos,” the statement stated.
It said that since the establishment of the NDLEA in 1990, the U.S. had partnered with the agency and increased its bilateral assistance for combating narcotics trafficking in Nigeria.
According to the statement, the U.S. has provided more than 10 million dollars in training and provision of equipment to the NDLEA in the past four years.
“The U.S. Consulate-General in Lagos in partnership with the U.S. Africa Command (U.S. AFRICOM) and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs had sponsored over 100 training courses since 2013 for the NDLEA, and trained 1,580 students.
“The agency also received training in intelligence, evidence collection, management skills, tactical skills and instructor training,’’ it said.
The statement said that Abdallah, while receiving the vehicles expressed optimism that they would help the anti-narcotics agency in its fight against drug trafficking.
“It is on account of the mentorship and support that we get from the U.S. that we have been able to record some of our successes,’’ Abdallah said. (NAN)
