CGC Adeniyi Urges Stronger Inter-Agency Collaboration to Curb Illicit Drug Trade
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, has called for stronger inter-agency collaboration among security and law enforcement agencies to combat illicit drug trafficking and cut off criminal networks from resources that could fuel violent activities.
Adeniyi made the call on Monday, August 17, 2026, in Lagos, during the public destruction of 329,865.585 kilogrammes of assorted narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances valued at about ₦301 billion by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
The Customs boss described the quantity of illicit substances destroyed as significant, saying it underscored the scale of enforcement operations being carried out across Nigeria’s seaports, airports and land borders.
He stressed that sustained cooperation among security and law enforcement agencies was critical to effectively tackling the illicit drug trade and its links to criminality and insecurity.
«“All agencies that are involved; NDLEA, Nigeria Customs, Navy, Army, Police and all other agencies of government, including the Judiciary, must continue to work together with one common goal of denying those non-state actors access to this kind of material that they need to perpetrate their evil acts,” Adeniyi said.»
He also commended the growing partnership between the NCS and NDLEA, particularly the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding providing for enhanced intelligence and information sharing, joint operations and investigations.
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According to him, the collaboration is already producing positive results and would strengthen efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute those involved in the illicit drug trade.
“I am happy to know that this is beginning to yield positive results. I’m happy that through efforts like this, we will carry out very diligent investigations, we will throw perpetrators in jail, and we will all assemble in places like this to effect the destruction and ensure that these do not end up in the wrong hands,” he said.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd.), described the destruction exercise as a demonstration of the Federal Government’s determination to protect Nigerians and safeguard the country’s future.
“Today is not merely an exercise; it is a bold demonstration of Nigeria’s unwavering resolve to protect her people, defend her future, deny criminal enterprises the oxygen that they need to thrive,” Marwa said.
He said the exercise went beyond the enforcement of drug laws, stressing that it also reinforced Nigeria’s national security architecture and helped protect the country’s sovereignty.
Marwa commended sister security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Customs Service, for their continued support and collaboration in disrupting the illicit drug trade.
The destruction of the seized narcotics, he added, reflected the combined efforts of Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies to prevent dangerous substances from returning to circulation and being exploited by criminal networks.
By PRNigeria
