The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, on Friday, said a total of 1,023 suspects had been arrested for drug-related offences in Plateau, Ondo, Cross River, Edo, Ekiti, Imo and Oyo states.

The state commands of the agency, in separate statements to commemorate the 2020 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, said the arrests in Ondo (150), Edo (145), Imo (87) and Oyo (66) were made between January and June.

However, the arrests in Cross River (146) were said to have been made within the last one year, while those in Plateau (320) and Ekiti (109) occurred in the last 11 months.

The Plateau Commander of the agency,  Ibrahim Braji, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the command had secured 101 convictions and rehabilitated 219 drug addicts.

Also, the NDLEA state Commander in Ondo, Haruna Gagara, said 138 males and 12 females were arrested, while 7,702kg of drugs had been seized, including 7,653kg of cannabis sativa, 48kg of psychotropic substances and 0.06g of cocaine.

Haruna added that 65 bags of cannabis sativa were seized on Friday at Ogbese town in the Akure North Local Government Area.

Similarly, the Edo Commander, Buba Wakawa, who was represented by the command’s Assistant Commander, Administration, and Logistics, Mr Usman Suleman, said the agency had arrested 101 males and 44 females and seized 7,905kg of narcotics.

According to NAN, 7,880kg of cannabis sativa were seized, in addition to 24kg of psychotropic substances.

Wakawa stated that three cannabis farms on a total of 2,290 hectares were identified and destroyed with an estimated yield of 10,993kg of cannabis, adding that six vehicles used in conveying illicit drugs were impounded along with one motorcycle.

The commander said, “Sixty-three persons with drug abuse disorders were successfully counselled, rehabilitated, and reunited with their families.

“Two others found to be abusing multiple drugs and referred by their parents are currently undergoing counselling. The command also secured seven convictions, while 174 cases are pending in court.”

In the same vein, NDLEA’s Cross River Commander, Mrs Anthonia Edeh, said the command secured 15 convictions at the Federal High Court, Calabar, adding that 114 drug-dependent persons were counselled, rehabilitated and reunited with their families.

Edeh stated that the command seized 205kg of drugs, including 196kg of cannabis sativa, 163g of cocaine, 187g of heroin, and 9kg of psychotropic substances.

Meanwhile, the Imo command said it had arrested 76 males and 11 females and seized 744kg of hard drugs, including cannabis sativa, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, tramadol, and rohypnol, among others.

The state Commander, Nse Inam, also told journalists that the agency had secured the conviction of 14 accused persons in court.

He said, “They were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, while a lot of cases are ongoing in court. Equally, it (NDLEA) hascounselled 46 drug users and rehabilitated two, based on court orders.”

In Oyo, the NDLEA Commander, Josephine Obi, said 27 had been convicted and sentenced to different jail terms.

According to Obi, the agency also seized 1,184kg of various narcotics and psychotropic substances, and gave brief intervention to 35 persons, while seven others were undergoing rehabilitation.

Similarly, the Ekiti command stated that while 89 males and 20 females were arrested, about 1,399kg of illicit drugs were seized.

The state Commander, Gaura Shedow, said, “The command destroyed about 10 cannabis sativa plantations within the state of about 59.5 hectares of farmland with fresh cannabis sativa weighing about 81kg, excluding 59 nursery beds.

“Areas of destruction were Aba Igbira Forest in Iworoko-Ekiti, Ijesha Isu-Ikole-Ekiti, Ara-Ekiti, Otunja-Ekiti and Odo-Oro-Ikole-Ekiti, cannabis sativa (1,398kg), psychotropic substances (703g), cocaine/heroine (4g). We secured 12 convictions at the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti (10 males and two females).”

He added that the command had counselled 106 clients and launched 46 public enlightenment campaigns in schools, markets, communities and places of worship.