Drugs intercepted by police in Kano not Tramadol – NDLEA

The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said the recent drugs allegedly intercepted by the police in Kano State was not Tramadol, but Diclofenac, an analgesic.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the police recently announced that it intercepted 303 cartons of drugs suspected to be Tramadol.
However, the NDLEA Commander in Kano, Dr Ibrahim Abdul, told newsmen on Tuesday in Kano that the command had intercepted such drugs recently.
He explained that following series of investigation and tests, it was discovered that there was no sign of Tramadol in the drugs.
“We recently intercepted similar drugs from the same company, we carried out our investigations here and we later sent it to a laboratory in Lagos where the result proved us right.
“Therefore, we expect the police to have conducted such investigations to know if the drugs are illicit instead of addressing journalists.
“The police in Kano is expected to hand over such cases concerning illicit drugs to us for further investigation, because they have no facilities to test such drugs,” the NDLEA commander said.
He, however, commended the police for all the necessary support given to the agency and other law enforcement agencies to always refer such matters to NDLEA for necessary action as prescribed by law.
“You see, whenever the police arrest any drug baron, they can only take them to the Magistrates’ Court where in most cases they will be asked to pay little fine and be released.
“But the NDLEA has the power to take such suspects to the Federal High Courts and also ensure that the right thing is done,” Abdul said.
Abdul added that Section 1 Sub-section 1 of the Nigerian Police Act give the police the power to protect lives and properties, under Section 4, they have general duty of arresting anybody, who commits an offence in their presence.
He explained that the police work stop there because of the existence of the specialised agency like NDLEA which is vested with the power of handling drugs by virtue of Section 3 Sub-section 1(b).
A member of the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, Mr Sama’ila Ciroma, also told NAN that the drug was not on the list of the controlled drugs.
Ciroma, an Assistant Director, said the council investigated the drug and discovered that it has two components which were pain relievers.
The Kano police command or its spokesman, DSP Abdullahi Kiyawa, is yet to react to the development in spite of several calls and text messages put to Kiyawa. (NAN)