Momodu: States Unwilling to Set Up Drug Control Committees

Linus Aleke in Abuja 

Ex-Deputy Commander General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Sule Momodu, has expressed deep concern over the reluctance of many state governments to establish Drug Control Committees, despite their central role in tackling the growing threat of substance abuse.

Momodu stressed that the Inter-Ministerial Control Committee at the federal level is functioning effectively, but only a few states have replicated this structure, leaving a critical gap in the national drug control framework.

Speaking during an interview, the former Deputy Commander General noted that in several states where drug-related challenges are severe, authorities have shown little political will to set up the committees, thereby weakening coordination, prevention strategies, and community-based interventions.

He emphasised that without strong state-level mechanisms, the burden on enforcement agencies continues to grow, and efforts to curb demand and protect vulnerable groups—particularly young people—remain insufficient.

“We have the Inter-Ministerial Control Committee at the federal level, and it is functioning. At the state level, we are supposed to have a State Drug Control Committee, which should operate like the Inter-Ministerial Control Committee to drive the process. Regrettably, no more than two states have set up this committee.

“In some of the states where I have worked and where this drug problem exists, they refused to establish the committee for reasons best known to them. Parents also have a role to play; we should be able to identify red flags among our children and dependants and make efforts to discourage them from using drugs,” he counselled.

Momodu added: “There are two sides to the fight against drugs: supply reduction and demand reduction. I will say that the NDLEA is doing exceedingly well in the area of supply reduction.

“Drug trafficking is carried out in a very secretive manner, so we need informants to obtain first-hand information, which can then be developed into actionable intelligence to dismantle identified networks.

“In terms of supply reduction, the NDLEA is performing well; the area where we face challenges is demand reduction, and the agency is doing all it can within the resources available to it.”

He also spoke about lapses in checkmating the abuse of prescription drugs in the country, saying: “During our drug enforcement training, we were told that every pharmacy should have a dangerous drug box labelled prescription drugs, where medicines that require a doctor’s prescription are kept.

“What this means is that if you do not have a doctor’s prescription, these drugs cannot be sold to you. However, these measures are not fully implemented these days.

“Each pharmacy is supposed to employ a pharmacist who will work round the clock to handle the dispensing of these dangerous drugs.

“Unfortunately, most pharmacies in town operate without a qualified pharmacist. Many of the pharmacy shops are owned by pharmacists who are public servants, and they only visit the pharmacy after closing from work.

“That is unacceptable, because these drugs end up in the hands of people who should not have access to them, which leads to abuse.”