NDLEA seizes 66kg of kola nuts from Bauchi pilgrims

Bauchi State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has confiscated 66 kilogrammes of kola nuts from

Bauchi State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has confiscated 66 kilogrammes of kola nuts from pilgrims while screening them at the Hajj Transit Camp in Bauchi.

Bashir Ibrahim, the assistant commander in charge of operations and intelligence of the command, disclosed the figure in an interview with NAN in Bauchi, saying although kola nut does not belong to the category of items considered as very dangerous, it had some narcotic substance in it.

“Pilgrims are allowed to carry not more than 10 pieces of kola nuts, but those impounded were in commercial quantity. Probably, they are meant to be sold in the Holy Land, a practice forbidden by the Saudi Arabia authorities.

“When they get there with the large quantity, the kola nuts would probably be seized. Apart from the loss to be incurred by the pilgrims, the act itself constitutes an embarrassment to Nigeria as a country,” he said.

The commander added that he was disappointed that pilgrims still attempted to carry large quantity of kola nuts to Saudi Arabia in spite of the warnings issued during awareness campaigns by officials of the NDLEA.

However, Ibrahim expressed happiness that only kola nuts were seized and that so far no pilgrim was in possession of psychotropic substances. He noted that the kola nuts impounded would be destroyed along with other items recovered.

Speaking on the activities of the command, the commander said that the lack of enough vehicles was their major challenge.

“The Bauchi State government had been of tremendous assistance to us in many ways. It promised to provide us with a vehicle and I am optimistic that the promise would be fulfilled,’’ he said.

Ibrahim also said that while most of the local communities had been cooperating with the NDLEA in the fight against illicit drugs, “some few persons shielded criminals for personal reasons.

“Some communities assist us and even provide us with information on criminals, but some few persons shield such criminals, either because of blood relationship or economic gains.’’