South-West has largest cannabis-NDLEA

The Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency
has said the South-West geopolitical zone
has the largest cannabis plantations in the
country, with 1,404.27 hectares of
cannabis farmland destroyed in 2012.
Of this, Ekiti State tops the list of states in
the zone, with 764 hectares of cannabis
farmland.

In data SUNDAY PUNCH obtained from the
Head, Public Affairs, NDLEA, Mr. Mitchell
Ofoyeju, on Friday, the agency said the
plantations were concentrated in Ekiti,
Ondo, Osun, Ogun and Oyo states.

It added that Delta and Edo states in the
South-South top the list of states with the
largest cannabis farms from other zones.
NDLEA said, of the 8,052 drug suspects
arrested, North-West had the highest with
2,185.

This was followed by South-West, with
1,591; South-South, 1,480; North-Central,
1,230; South-East, 960; and North-East, 606.
The agency seized 233,700kg of narcotics
in the year under review, with the South-
South having the highest, with
106,676.716kg.

The South-West came second, with
94,036.265kg; North-Central,
14,472.309kg; North-West, 10,357.895kg;
North-East, 4,548.268kg; and South-East,
3,608.309kg.

On the list of states with the largest volume
of drugs seized, Edo led with 81,541.71kg.
Ondo had 61,246.35kg; Delta, 23,418.48kg;
Ogun, 8,469.99kg; Oyo, 7,232.08kg; and
Ekiti, 6,685.23kg.

Kano State recorded the highest number of
arrests, with 705 suspects - all males.
Katsina State came second, with 411
suspects --407 males and four females.

Plateau State recorded 384 arrests -- 369
males and 15 females. Ekiti State had 383
suspects -- 349 males and 34 females.
Others include Lagos, with 321 suspects --
305 males and 16 females; Delta, 292
suspects -- 243 males and 49 females.

Ofoyeju noted that the statistics assisted
the NDLEA in resources allocation and
personnel deployment in line with the
rating of the geographical locations.
He added that it helped the agency in
planning raid operations and public
enlightenment campaign programmes.

Ofoyeju said, "The Chairman of the NDLEA,
Ahmadu Giade, recently posited that
cannabis cultivation has serious implication
on national economy and security.

"Cannabis eradication is one of our priority
concerns. It prevents cannabis from
struggling with legitimate crops for arable
land. Incentive is taken from the drug
cartel, while legitimate farmers are
encouraged to grow food and cash crops.

Besides cutting off supply to the trafficker
and drug addicts, cannabis control
promotes national economy and security."

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