By Adebola Muili
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized illicit drugs weighing more than 5.8 million kilogrammes, valued at over ₦2.5 trillion, arrested 38,242 suspects and secured 6,232 convictions between January 2025 and September 2026.
The figures were disclosed as Nigeria presented its drug control reforms at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States, on Monday, October 12, 2026.
In a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, October 13, by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the agency said the results reflected Nigeria’s shift towards an integrated, intelligence-led approach to combating drug trafficking and substance abuse.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), who was represented at the session by the agency’s Secretary, Shadrach Haruna, said the country had expanded its strategy beyond arrests and seizures to target criminal networks, illicit financial flows and the vulnerabilities sustaining the drug trade.
He said the changing nature of drug trafficking, the increasing use of technology for illicit activities and the movement of criminal proceeds across borders had made a broader approach necessary.
According to the statement, more than 16,303 persons received counselling, treatment or rehabilitation within the period, while drug abuse prevention and sensitisation campaigns reached millions of Nigerians.
Marwa stressed that the effectiveness of drug control should not be measured solely by the volume of drugs seized or the number of suspects arrested, but also by the ability to dismantle major trafficking organisations and disrupt the financial networks behind their operations.
He also highlighted the agency’s Alternative Development initiative, currently being piloted in three communities in Ondo State, where residents are being supported to abandon illicit cannabis cultivation for legitimate agricultural production.
The initiative, he said, was designed to provide sustainable economic alternatives to communities involved in illicit cultivation, while strengthening food security, community resilience and national security.
Marwa further identified the NDLEA’s Drug Integrity Test and Visa E-Administration System as examples of how digital technology could improve efficiency, transparency and accountability in public administration.
He said the reforms were being consolidated under the National Drug Control Master Plan 2026–2030, which focuses on six areas: drug supply reduction, drug demand reduction, access to controlled medicines, governance and coordination, alternative development, and disruption of the illicit drug economy.
At the United Nations session, Nigeria called for stronger international intelligence-sharing to prevent criminal networks from exploiting gaps between jurisdictions.
The country also urged governments to intensify financial investigations, asset tracing and recovery, while strengthening prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes alongside enforcement measures.
Nigeria further called for increased support for developing countries through technology, training, forensic capabilities, treatment infrastructure and sustained technical assistance to enable their institutions to respond effectively to increasingly sophisticated drug cartels.
It also urged international partners to support alternative development programmes that would provide legitimate and sustainable livelihoods for communities transitioning away from illicit cultivation.
Nigeria described its experience as an ongoing process rather than a finished model, expressing readiness to share lessons, learn from other countries and work with the United Nations and international partners to translate commitments into practical results.
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