NDLEA BOSS ADVOCATES STIFFER PUNISHMENT FOR DRUG BARONS

THE Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in
Edo State, Mr. Okey Ihebom, says some of the sentences given to drug
barons by the courts are discouraging to law enforcement agencies in
the country, saying that the activities of the barons would persist
unless they are given more severe punishment by the courts.

The NDLEA Commander who disclosed that over five thousand bags of
Indian hemp were seized in the state since January this year till
date, regretted that out of eighty-one suspects that were taken to
court since the beginning of the year, only twenty persons were convicted.

"And honestly, this situation is quite discouraging because sometimes
it takes us up to three months to track some of these people who
engage in this illegal business.

Some of our people in the course of their duty are killed and it is
painful that when they are finally arrested and prosecuted, the court
will give three months in imprisonment, sometimes two. Though there
are also some judges that understand it too and they give
appropriate punishment," he said.

Mr Ihebom stressed that "the law stipulated 15 years for offenders
but when we take them to court they give them three months. It is not
fair. There was an incident where the drug baron was arrested and we
know he is one of the worst in the state, he even killed some of our
men who caught him some years ago.

But when this man was arrested, he was granted bail. But we know how
dangerous he is and luckily he was arrested again even after he was
granted bail for the same offence.

"So the truth is that if we must fight these drug barons, the
judiciary must play a major role. Most times, the very day you
release this people after serving three months they go back to the
business.

But if they are allowed to spend some time in the prison, they will
know it is dangerous for them to engage in such illicit business" he
said.

He further solicited for assistance in the area of logistics,
explaining that "these traffickers are hostile people, so we need
operational vehicles to combat them effectively.

That is the only way we can be able to go to the bushes where they
are and fight them. We must also know that you cannot fight
criminality in the society without fighting drugs first because armed
robbers use drugs before embarking in robbery activities. So we must
first of all curb drug trafficking before fighting other forms of
criminality".