NIGERIA COMMITTED TO WAR AGAINST DRUGS, CRIME - VP

Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has reiterated Federal Government's
commitment to wage war against hard drugs and crime in the country.

He said the government is determined to tackle the issues of poverty and
unemployment which he identified as the major factors leading individuals
into crime and drugs.

Vice President Abubakar was speaking at the Presidential Villa while playing
host to Mr. Paul Salay, who led a delegation of the United Nation's Nigerian
Office of Drugs and Crimes to pay him a courtesy call.

Vice President Abubakar said the Federal Government is on the verge of
completing its blueprint on the eradication of poverty which he said is a
comprehensive and all-embracing strategy to address the problem of poverty
in the country. All relevant papers, he said, will be signed by the end of
this year.

Abubakar also stated that the nation has reviewed its institutions on drugs
and crime to make them efficient and compliant with international standards,
especially the United Nations.

"We recently set up an agency on financial crimes and we are working to make
the laws in this area comply with the standards of the United Nations," he
said.

Mr. Paul Salay, had earlier informed the Vice President of the activities of
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Nigeria.

He expressed the gratitude of the United Nations to the federal government
for its co-operation. He sought further co-operation for the successful
execution of the brief of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in
Nigeria.