NDLEA Cautions on Inflow of Tramadol into Nigeria

Chinedu Eze
The Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Commander at the Lagos airport, Ahmadu Garba, has raised an alarm about the increase in the influx of Tramadol into Nigeria, a situation, he said, is creating a very serious health problem, especially among the youths in Nigeria.

Garba made this known yesterday during an event to mark the United Nations International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking in Lagos and said it was high time every concerned stakeholder stood up and take decisive action to make sure Nigerians see to the end of drug abuse in the country.

The Commander emphasised that the quantity of Tramadol coming into the country is of high volume because traffickers are bringing a lot of it, apart from other drugs; adding that there are also several upsurge of outward trafficking of methamphetamine and ephedrine.
He said because of the vigilance of NDLEA at the Lagos Airport, a lot of departures from Nigeria divert to other West African countries, whenever they are coming back to the country.

“If you look at the manifest so far, you see a lot of departures from Nigeria but somehow, when they are coming back, you see them diverting to most West African countries. There is an upsurge in the quantity of drug seizure because if you look at what we have been able to arrest in 2017, it is a kind of unprecedented in the last 10 years in terms of quantity.

“Again, if you look at this year, we have almost tripled what we have been able to do and what is surprising and it has to do with the quantity of Tramadol coming into the country. The volume is much because they are bringing a lot of it, apart from other drugs. There are several upsurge too of either inward or outward trafficking, mostly outward trafficking of methamphetamine and ephedrine. These are things that are very clear and there is a growing increase in trafficking of methamphetamine, ephedrine and Tramadol”, Garba added.

Speaking further on drug trafficking and illicit use, Garba noted that the theme of this year’s event, “Listen First” entailed that “listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe.”