There is disquietness in the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as some officers of the agencies accused their Chairman, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), of nepotism and discrimination in the administration of the agency.
Some of the aggrieved officers of the Agency who would not want their names mentioned because of fears of victimisation, also accused the NDLEA chairman of being a regional leader who cares only for his northern tribes.
They stated that when Marwa was first announced as the new Chairman/Chief Executive Officer CCEO of NDLEA, every staff of the Agency were jubilating with a very high hopes and spirit that their era of suffering is gone.
But, unfortunately their hopes were dashed as he is allegedly using NDLEA platform for his political ambition to satisfy the interest of his northern people.
“He uses every opportunities in NDLEA to please officers of Northern extraction at the detriment of officers from the southern part of the country. Let me dissect my claim with the following points:
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer CCEO of NDLEA Brigadier General Buba Muhamed Marwa (retd) who is supposed to be a leader for all and sundry turned out a regional leader who cares only for his northern people”.
They also stated that the recruitment exercise of five thousand personnel of 2023 was one sided, adding that about 75 percent of the recruits were from the North with higher numbers from Adamawa, Katsina and Kano State.
They further alleged that amongst the enlisted personnel were grandparents from the north such as wives of both retired and serving army Generals that can not be beneficial to the Agency.
“These people are far above the required age limit of 30 years. Most of them were declared untrainable by their drill instructors during their training. They formed Army Generals Wives Association in academy while on training. Marwa denied majority of Nigerian youths the opportunity to serve their father land just to satisfy his political and military friends from the north.
“The said recruitment exercise was supervised by his military friend, a retired army Colonel, who he appointed as his Special Adviser from Kano and a serving Lieutenant Colonel, from Katsina. The said retired Colonel was once detained by late General Abacha for allegedly coup plotting. While the serving Lieutenant Colonel, is a friend and course mate to Marwa son in Nigeria army.
“Marwa appointed him as his Military Assistant and later upgraded to Chief of Staff as against the wishes of the NDLEA Directors that are Deputy Commander General of Narcotics DCGN who are far his seniors. They were subjected to report to him until his exit to a military course abroad. These two are the arrow head of Mafia moving NDLEA aground.”
On promotions, the aggrieved personnel said: “promotion in NDLEA is in total mess as qualifications at the point of entry does not matter. It is a clear rule in the Agency that personnel enlisted with SSCE, OND and NCE cannot exceed the rank of Chief Superintendent of Narcotics unless they have additional qualifications which must be approved by the management.
“The rule was bent in the last Promotion Exercise under Marwa for some officers from the North. Brigadier General Buba Muhammed Marwa retired is not what he actually paraded himself to be. He is one of the people that enjoyed the regimental setting in this country and he knows the frustration inherent in promoting junior above the seniors. But he cares not so far his northern people are happy.
“It is an open secret that some desperate officers bring fake degree certificates and management deliberately refused to verify the authenticity of such certificates before promoting them. A situation where double promotions were given to some northern officers and imposed them on their seniors is the order of the day under Marwa.
On posting/appointment they said: “Posting and appointment under General Buba Mohamed Marwa retired is lopsided as more than eighty percent of State Commanders are Northern Muslims and the five newly created Strategic Commands are all headed by northern officers.
“To buttress my point on his ethno-religious agenda in NDLEA, Muritala Muhammed International Airport Lagos MMIA, Kano International Airport, Abuja International Airport, Tincan Port, Apapa Port, Lagos State Command, Rivers State Command, Ondo State Command, Delta State Command, Ogun State Command, Kano States Command and all other States from North that are termed juicy are all occupied by northern Commanders.
“The State Commands available to southern Commanders are those under the control of terrorists like Zamfara, Yobe Ebonyi, Abia, Enugu, bayelsa States”, another officer said.
The aggrieved officers called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to come to their rescue, by looking into the issues raised.
Responding to the allegations raised by the aggrieved officers, the agency’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said the allegations are far from reality. Adding that the last time the agency recruited was almost two years ago and it followed every due process.
He states; “That allegation is far from reality because the last time the Agency recruited was almost two years ago and that followed every due process.”
