UK to Build Maritime Headquarters for NDLEA

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The United Kingdom government is set to embark on the construction of a maritime headquarters for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The Director Africa region operations of the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, Mr. Richard Lloyd, disclosed this yesterday, during a visit to the national headquarters of NDLEA in Abuja,

Lloyd, who described as amazing and impressive, the collaborations between the UK body and the NDLEA spread across various drug law enforcement operations and projects jointly conducted, said the construction would commence in June 2024, to further enhance the capability of the anti-narcotic body.

Lloyd, who led a four-member delegation to the NDLEA headquarters, commended the leadership of Marwa, which has achieved tremendous successes in dismantling a lot of trans-border drug trafficking cartels.

He said as a further proof of their commitment to the result-oriented partnership with NDLEA, his office would be glad to sign an already drafted Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the NDLEA very soon.

He said: “I have heard so many good stories of the agency and your team. I will start by saying thanks for your support and the relationship that we have. I’ve been nothing but impressed since I arrived in Nigeria 10 days ago.

“I met a lot of the teams in Lagos and in Abuja and I must say they have been fantastic. The way that we work together with the Home Office International Operations and the NDLEA is astonishing.

“I manage a lot of countries and teams in Africa and I have a lot of teams across the continent and in Nigeria here is by far head and shoulders above everyone.

“To be fair, not only in Africa, because I work in Africa I may be biased but across all of our operations, we are massively ahead of everyone and it is really good for me to go back to the UK and highlight the amazing work that NDLEA does with Home Office team in the country.

“The office has a keen interest in Nigeria and the way that we work to disrupt organised crime and gangs in the country. Congratulations to the NDLEA team for doing a fantastic job.”

In his response, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Buba Marwa (Retd) expressed appreciation to Lloyd and his team for their kind comments about NDLEA’s work, adding that such commendation will further encourage the officers and men of the agency to do more.

He said: “We thank you very much for these encouraging remarks. These commendations coming from you are considered highly because we are glad to be meeting our mandate.

“I will like to give you the assurances that the NDLEA is very committed to our mandate. We plan to go down to the 774 local governments of the country so that at the community levels, we are able to check what is going on there and do whatever needs to be done there.

“We know these are difficult times in the UK as it is with other countries, and we appreciate that even with that you find the resources to support us is much welcome, especially the training, and capacity building which is very important.”