The United States Africa Command, AFRICOM, has reiterated the resolve to strengthen collaboration, support and partnership with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, in the fight against illicit drugs in Nigeria. A delegation of senior officials of the United States Africa Command on a courtesy visit on Tuesday to the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the existing relationship between NDLEA and AFRICOM, assuring enhanced collaboration and partnership in the fight against illicit drugs in the country.

The Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Tuesday, indicated that the leader of the delegation, Philip Esch,  US Drug Enforcement Administration Liaison to AFRICOM, noted that the relationship between NDLEA and US-DEA is not only a partnership but highly important to the US government. He commended Marwa for providing good leadership and open to international partnerships.

“We appreciate all the support and the leadership you provide. Obviously, you know that the relationship between NDLEA and DEA is of utmost importance, and we appreciate the excellent relationship across US law enforcement with you and the NDLEA. We want that to continue and we are very happy that your tenure was renewed for another five years. We really look forward to continued engagement”, Esch stated.

Babafemi disclosed that another member of the delegation, James Elseth, expressed excitement on supporting NDLEA because of the Agency’s tremendous work in Nigeria, which is further contributing to the security of other countries. According to him, “I want to thank you, General, because you have a regional mindset and an international mindset, that is showing clearly in the scope and impact of your work. A lot of countries that we work with are only focused on their country. And just like DEA and FBI, we have an international mindset to try to stop organized crime from impacting our respective countries.”

Elseth commended NDLEA for providing adequate maintenance of equipment and facilities earlier provided by the US government, while assuring that two major projects were already in the works to further support the Agency in addition to trainings and others.Marwa expressed appreciation for the visit and commended ongoing support from US-AFRICOM to NDLEA while congratulating Philip Esch for his years of meritorious service to the US government.

“We appreciate very much the ongoing support from AFRICOM. I must also say that whatever we are achieving is due to this kind of support from you and our other international partners and more importantly due to the commitment and encouragement from the renewed hope administration of President Bola Tinubu”, he stated. He urged the team to continue to support NDLEA especially because of the nexus between illicit drugs and terrorism. He said the Agency will appreciate more support on scanning equipment at the airports, digital forensic tools, portable drug detection equipment, and forensic laboratory equipment and sniffer dogs among others.