More than four billion naira have been granted by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the construction of barracks to house the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s staff (NDLEA).
Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, revealed this in a briefing with pressmen following the FEC meeting on Wednesday. He said the project was necessary because of the “unprecedented” threats and attacks on employees, officers, men, and other ranks of the agency.
“A council document at the request of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency was delivered today by the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice (NDLEA). As you are aware, there is a constant and renewed assault being made against drug cartels and barons.
“In the first three months of 2023, the NDLEA affected about 18,940 arrests, and drugs worth more than N40 billion naira were seized. Again, there were around 2,904 convictions noted. Unfortunately, these achievements led to never-before-seen threats and assaults against agency employees, officers, men, and other ranks.
The Federal Government must now take into account the viability of security measures that would give the necessary safety for the agency’s officials and soldiers to be commissioned, he continued.
Malami claims that two contracts were given to two businesses to complete the project. They are JP Sigma Nigeria Limited and Wizchino Engineering Ltd.
He claimed that the blocks, which are made up of numerous apartments, cost the first contractor N2.2 billion and the second contractor N2.8 billion.
