Sowore Faults NDLEA Over Destruction of Cannabis Farms Worth Billions; Ogun Command Defends Action

Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has criticized the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for destroying cannabis farms valued at billions of naira.

Sowore described the action as counter-productive and economically wasteful at a time when Nigeria is grappling with multidimensional poverty.

In a statement on Friday, Sowore said:
“It is idiotic for the NDLEA to wake up, put on uniforms, march into farms and set economically viable crops worth millions of dollars ablaze while the country is drowning in multidimensional poverty.

Stop destroying cannabis farms. Stop wasting enormous economic opportunities in the name of a failed and outdated policy.

Legalize and properly regulate cannabis. Invest in research, harness its legitimate medicinal and industrial potential, create jobs, generate revenue and build an industry Nigerians can benefit from.

You cannot burn your way out of poverty.”
He urged the Federal Government to shift from a policy of destruction to one of regulation, research and industrial development.

NDLEA Ogun Command Responds: Action is Legal Duty, Not Folly

In a swift reaction, the Commander of the NDLEA in Ogun State, Commander of Narcotics, Tijjani Rabe, defended the agency’s operations, stating that its actions are guided by law.

Rabe’s full response reads:

“With all due respect, Sir, leadership is not built on insults to institutions that sacrifice daily for this country.

The NDLEA did not wake up and decide to set farms ablaze for sport. We act on a clear mandate given to us by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

While you describe us as ‘foolish,’ Nigerians are witnesses to our record. In the last five years, this institution has made monumental seizures of illicit drugs, stopping tons from getting into our homes, schools, barracks and motor parks.

Beyond enforcement, we have counselled and rehabilitated thousands of young Nigerians whose futures were being destroyed by drug abuse. We have also dismantled transnational cartels that use drug proceeds to fund kidnapping, banditry and arms proliferation.

You cannot aspire to be Commander-in-Chief and, in the same breath, denigrate the men and women who serve under that command.

If you disagree with the law, the democratic path is to sponsor a bill to change it, not to resort to abuse. The NDLEA, and indeed all law enforcement agencies, deserve better, especially from those who aspire to lead.

Yes, we are grappling with poverty, but we are also grappling with addiction, mental illness and insecurity that illicit drugs worsen. We cannot solve one crisis by deepening another.

Before advocating for the legalization of cannabis, we must interrogate our environment, our institutions and our realities. What works elsewhere will not automatically work here.

Legalization without strong guardrails — proper tracking, prescription monitoring, laboratories and rehabilitation centres — will only expand the black market. Even Canada, years after legalization, still contends with a thriving illicit market. With our current regulatory capacity, Nigeria’s situation will be far worse.

Let us also be clear: many of these ‘economically viable farms’ are controlled by armed networks linked to trafficking and violence. To legalize now is to hand legitimacy to those same networks. You do not defeat poverty by empowering cartels.

What Nigeria needs now is stronger advocacy for medical research and Alternative Development programmes for farmers, not a rush to legalization.

If the goal is to build an industry, then let us start by funding the laboratories, the rehabilitation centres and the cooperatives that will make it safe and sustainable.

Until that foundation exists, the NDLEA will continue to do what the law demands of us: interdict, destroy and save lives. That is not ‘idiotic’, Sir. That is duty.

We will, however, excuse the tone. In this season, many will say anything for attention. On our part, we remain grateful for the support and encouragement of millions of Nigerians who believe in the work we do.”

• CN Tijjani Rabe,
  Commander, NDLEA Ogun State Command