NDLEA to aid PSC in screening police recruits for drug use

Stanley Ihedigbo

In a bid to weed out potential drug users from the police force, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has sought the support of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA ) in conducting drug integrity tests for police recruits.

Chairman of PSC, DIG Hashimu Argungu (rtd), met with the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) seek the support of NDLEA in conducting drug integrity tests for police recruits to ensure that those with the right frame of mind eventually make it out of police training colleges across the country.

According to the Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, Argungu requested on Tuesday, when he led a delegation of the PSC management on a courtesy visit to Marwa at the Agency’s National Headquarters in Abuja.

While commending the leadership of NDLEA for the support so far received, the PSC boss said his visit was to seek further assistance .“ I feel there is a need to come and plead, to seek the assistance and cooperation of this organization, because we follow processes and procedures in anything we do, so that we can produce the best results.

“If the process and procedures were followed wrongly, the result or product is going to be bad. So, recruitment anywhere, in any sector, if bad eggs are in the process, the product or the people you are training are not going to be good. So, we feel it’s very, very important.

“We are going to decentralize this screening exercise to different states of the federation. And because there is NDLEA in every state of the country, we want them to assist us in screening those who are already on drugs in whatever form because we can’t churn out and put arms in the hands of people already dependent on illicit drugs, that is dangerous. This is the main reason why we are here, and we are thanking you for your cooperation.”

In his response, Marwa noted that the drug scourge is a challenge affecting every part of national life and propelling security challenges. He said this explains why there is a need for all stakeholders to embrace a whole-of-government and society approach to curbing the menace.

“On your request for a drug integrity test for new police recruits, we are delighted about this, and we’re happy to collaborate with you on this. We are prepared across all our commands all over the country with high-quality test kits that will give you the right results. This is important because candidates play all manner of tricks with urine samples, but our kits are produced to detect all of those. In all, you can rest assured we’ll be glad to work with you and support you on this”, the NDLEA boss stated.