Over 6, 000 Nigerians Jailed For Drug Offences Abroad’

Over 6,000 Nigerians are serving various jail terms for drug-related offences abroad, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said. According to the NDLEA, Nigeria is the only African country with such a frightening figure.

The agency said that the figure may be higher as the available data could not be said to be totally exhaustive.

NDLEA Director Gen-eral, Mr. Femi Ajayi, told the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Matters that Iran has 4,000 inmates, Brazil 500, Thailand 500 and Malaysia 300.

He said: “The bulk of those caught for drug-related offences outside the country were from the South-East with majority coming from Anambra State.

“I do not know what we can do to the upsurge of our brothers from the South East-who indulges in this kind of business. Can you believe that of the 500 Nigerians in Thailand prisons, 480 of them are from the South-East and 450 from the figure are from Anambra State”.

Ajayi, however, decried lack of adequate funding of the agency’s activities, add-ing that the development has had negative impact on its ability to fight drug traf-ficking.