The Ogun State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), CN Tijjani Rabe, has issued a sharp rebuke to presidential aspirant Omoyele Sowore, dismissing his criticism of the agency’s farm destruction operations as insulting, illogical, and a dangerous distraction from the fight against illicit drugs.
In a strongly worded response released Thursday, Rabe said leadership cannot be built on insults directed at institutions that sacrifice daily for the country. He rejected Sowore’s description of NDLEA officers as “foolish,” pointing to the agency’s five-year record of monumental seizures that have kept tons of illicit drugs out of homes, schools, barracks, and motor parks.
“Beyond enforcement, we have counseled 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,” Rabe stated.
The commander stressed that NDLEA acts strictly on the mandate given by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not for sport. He argued that anyone who disagrees with existing law should sponsor a bill to change it rather than resort to abuse.
Rabe linked the drug problem directly to wider national crises: “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.”
On the call for cannabis legalization, the NDLEA boss warned that Nigeria’s regulatory capacity is far from ready. He noted that even Canada still struggles with a thriving illicit market years after legalization. Without strong guardrails—proper tracking, prescription monitoring, laboratories, and rehabilitation centres—legalization would only expand the black market and hand legitimacy to armed networks already controlling many so-called “economically viable farms.”
“You do not defeat poverty by empowering cartels,” Rabe said. He called instead for stronger advocacy for medical research and Alternative Development programmes for farmers, insisting that any future industry must first be built on funded labs, rehab centres, and cooperatives.
“Until that foundation exists, NDLEA will continue to do what the law demands of us: interdict, destroy, and save lives. That is not ‘idiotic’, Sir. That is duty,” the commander concluded.
Rabe added that the agency would excuse the tone of the attack, describing it as typical of those seeking attention, while expressing gratitude for the support of millions of Nigerians who back the agency’s work.
The exchange underscores the deepening tension between advocates of cannabis legalization and Nigeria’s drug enforcement establishment ahead of the next political cycle.