Nigeria Content Online

Late
last month, a young lady, identified only as Zainab, headed for a spot
where hard drugs are sold on Aminu Kano Crescent in Wuse II, a district
in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. At the spot, which also
doubles as a petrol station, Zainab sold a BlackBerry phone, worth at
least N60,000, for N2,000. She was in need of a quick fix and with
N2,000, Zainab could buy about 0.25grammes, a little more than a pinch,
of cocaine. There are many of such markets in Abuja and Zainab is just
one of the growing population of young Nigerians who are addicted to
cocaine.

Latest statistics from the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) show that between 2004 and now, Nigerian
nationals have not only become involved in the international illicit
drug trade but that there has been a rapid rise in the use of drugs,
especially cocaine. The UNODC believes that the increase is directly
linked to the high level of corruption in the country.

Becoming a major player

It has now been established that Nigeria is an
active player in the $6.8billion West- African cocaine market. The
country serves as a major route through which cocaine is trafficked
from Columbia, the main hub of cocaine production, to the 4.5 million
users in Europe.

Nigeria is also considered an active retailer as well as a small scale importer of the illicit drug.

The West-African market began blooming from 2004
as drug dealers in Columbia sought for safer routes to move illicit
substances to a budding market in Europe. With US authorities coming
down hard on the largest drug market in the world, the North American
drug market, West Africa, with its numerous sea ports and weak law
enforcement, quickly became a thriving alternate route to move cocaine
to the European market.

“Shipments to Africa, mostly West Africa gained in
importance between 2004 and 2007, resulting in the emergence of two key
trans-shipment hubs…one centered in the Bight of Benin, which spans
from Ghana to Nigeria,” the 2010 World Drug Report from the UNODC
states.

The Nigerian traffickers

Although insufficient and unreliable data make it
impossible to correctly analyse the trend in the Nigerian drug market,
indicators, such as seizures at the airports and borders show that
Nigerians are increasingly becoming key players in the delivery of
illicit drugs, especially cocaine, to the European market.

In April 2010, at least 21 persons were arrested
at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, by officials of
the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in relation with
cocaine trafficking. The agency also says that it has seized about 71kg
of cocaine, worth over N600 million, at the airport in the first
quarter of 2010.

This is indicative of a surge in cocaine
trafficking to mainly European countries from Nigeria. A staff of Arik
Air, a Nigerian carrier which also flies international routes,
confirmed to NEXT that a large number of Nigerians caught for drug
peddling were mostly headed to Europe.

“Most of them are usually going to London or to Italy,” our source, who sought anonymity, said.

In international circles, an increasing number of
Nigerian citizens are being arrested for trafficking cocaine into or
within European countries. UNODC reports that 2009 data from the
various countries show about 700 Nigerians were arrested in four
European countries: Spain, Italy, France, and Germany, for cocaine
trafficking.

Cocaine and crime

According to the NDLEA and the UNODC, cocaine peddling and abuse have become a major source of finance for criminal groups.

“Cocaine trafficking is also linked to corruption.
Trafficking in cocaine both thrives on corruption and breeds
corruption… [the] high levels of corruption in a number of West
African countries have certainly been a facilitating factor for the
establishment of cocaine transit traffic via this region,” the 2010
World Drug Report states.

The NDLEA concurs, adding that even small vices are fostered by drug abuse.

“We have always said it that you cannot divorce
drugs from crime. Prostitutes, hired assassins, armed robbers rely on
these drugs to get the high required to get them through their evil
activities.

“Some of them use cocaine but most of them use
cannabis which is more readily available in Nigeria,” Mitchel Ofoyeju,
the spokesperson of the agency, said in a telephone interview with
NEXT.

Mr. Ofoyeju spoke from a cannabis farm in Akure, where the agency was carrying out a destruction of the farm over the weekend.

On the measures the agency is taking to fight the
growing menace of drug trafficking and use, Mr. Ofoyeju said, “We have
a command in all the states of the federation including the FCT. They
regularly carry out surveillance and raid operations in the states. For
cocaine, we conduct raid of the premises used for re-packaging the
substance before exportation or we intercept them at the airports or
the borders,” he added.

He, however, conceded that the lack of data has hampered the activities of the agency, especially as regards drug use.

“People don’t come forward until they have serious problems so it is
very difficult to collect such data,” Mr. Ofoyeju said, but added that
the agency is partnering with state governments for a more effective
fight against drug abuse.