The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in collaboration with BRAVE-IT, has blamed youth radicalisation and terrorism in Nigeria on drug abuse.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, raised these concerns at the 2025 BRAVE-IT National Security Breakfast Meeting held in Abuja.
The event, themed “Pathway: Inter-Agency Collaboration and Citizens’ Cooperation in the Fight Against Kidnapping, Insurgency and Terrorism in Nigeria,” brought together top stakeholders to discuss pressing security threats.
Represented by Muhammad Bashir Ibrahim, the Deputy Director of Drug Demand Reduction, the anti-narcotics body says that drug trafficking has become a lucrative funding source for criminal gangs and insurgents, who exploit Nigeria’s porous borders and weak community structures to traffic narcotics across regions.
He noted that extremist and terrorist groups now actively exploit unemployed and drug-dependent youths to further their criminal aims.
He said: “Youth radicalisation and terrorism: Extremist and terrorist groups often prey on unemployed and drug-dependent youths, offering them drugs and a false sense of purpose. Some insurgents and suicide bombers are deliberately drugged before operations to suppress fear and conscience.
“Drug trafficking as a revenue stream: Just like in other parts of the world, drug trafficking has become a lucrative funding source for criminal gangs and insurgent groups.
These networks exploit porous borders and weak community structures to traffic narcotics across regions.”
