The Executive Council of the Federation has approved the sum of five point sixteen billion naira for the construction of two accommodation facilities comprising 192 flats of various room capacities for the safety of personnel of the National Drugs Laws Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
The facility which will be located in Abuja is to be completed in 60 weeks.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami made this known after this week’s Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Malami said the construction of the barracks became necessary to ensure the security and safety of the NDLEA’s Narcotics Superintendents and Assistants whom, he said have come under attack due to their increased anti-drug campaigns.
He said the campaigns led to 18,940 arrests, N40bn worth of hard drugs seized and 2,904 convictions between the first and third quarters of 2022 alone. However, the gains have made NDLEA personnel targets for vindictive drug lords.
The approval came six months after Council approved N580.50m for the purchase of four armoured vehicles for the Agency in September, 2022.
At the time, NDLEA had just recovered N194bn worth of cocaine from an Ikorodu warehouse on September 19, 2022. The biggest drug bust in its 33-year history.
The development also came exactly one year after the Council approved the sum of N1.07bn for the procurement of eye-scanning lie detectors and night-vision goggles for NDLEA’s war on drugs. This brings the total amount of contracts approved for the agency since March 2022 to N6.81bn.
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