Prosecute Officers Involved In N20b Budgetary Diversion, HURIWA Tells Marwa

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has called on the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig-Gen Buba Marwa to expose and prosecute officers allegedly involved in diversion of N20 billion budgetary allocation to the agency.

The association’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko made this known via a statement on Friday.

The group insisted that corrupt officers must be dismissed from the service for them not to contaminate others.

The group’s statement followed a viral publication on August 25, 2022, and titled, ‘How NDLEA State Officers Diverted over N20bn Budgetary Allocation, Other Funds’.

The report quoted an anonymous senior officer within the NDLEA alleging that state officers of the agency diverted over N20 billion from budgetary allocations and other funds from donor agencies that were meant to sustain its operations in various states of the federation.

Commenting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The mind-boggling revelations of organised crime within NDLEA must be transparently investigated, and officers involved in those shady deals must be arrested forthwith for prosecution now.

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“The alleged diversion of N20bn budgetary funds is not the first of rot that has made it out of the NDLEA. Recall that the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, in February 2022, alleged that some NDLEA officers work in connivance with drug peddlers and had urged the NDLEA boss to immediately arrest officers of the anti-narcotic agency involved in drug crimes with accomplices of the suspended cop, Abba Kyari.

“Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, had in a statement said two arrested drug couriers confirmed that transnational drug barons conspire with NDLEA officers on duty at airports for unhindered clearance.

“HURIWA urges NDLEA chairman, Brig-Gen Buba Marwa (retd.), to ensure full disclosure in the alleged N20bn graft and other malfeasance.

“The NDLEA boss should ensure those involved in the alleged graft are flushed out because they are pollutants that must never be allowed to contaminate the reinvigorated NDLEA under the former military governor.

“Generally, too, due process, accountability and transparency must be restored within NDLEA operations. There must be no coverups.”