The Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, in Ogun State, CN Tijjani Rabe, has fired back at popular human rights activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, over his criticism of the agency’s anti-drug operations.

Rabe asserted that leadership cannot be built on insults against institutions that “sacrifice daily for this country.”

Recall that Sowore, in a post on X on Tuesday, faulted the agency for destroying cannabis farms, describing it as an economically viable crop.

He asked the government to legalize and regulate the cultivation of the plant to harness its medicinal and industrial potential rather than destroying it.

He wrote, “It is idiotic @ndlea_nigeria wake up, put on uniforms, march into farms, and set economically viable crops worth millions of dollars ablaze while your country is drowning in multidimensional poverty.

“Stop destroying cannabis farms. Stop wasting enormous economic opportunities in the name of a failed and outdated policy.”

The Commander of Narcotics, in a statement on Wednesday, noted that while Sowore called the agency foolish, Nigerians are witnesses to the NDLEA’s record in the last five years.

According to him, the agency has made monumental seizures of illicit drugs and stopped tons from getting into homes, schools, barracks and motor parks.

“NDLEA did not wake up and decide to set farms ablaze for sport. We act on a clear mandate given to us by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“You cannot seek to be Commander-in-Chief and in the same breath denigrate the men and women who serve under that command,” Rabe stated.

Beyond enforcement, Rabe said the NDLEA has counselled and rehabilitated thousands of young Nigerians and dismantled transnational cartels that fund kidnapping, banditry and arms trafficking with drug proceeds.

Rabe argued that if Sowore disagrees with the law, the democratic path is to sponsor a bill to change it, not resort to abuse.

“If you disagree with the law, the democratic path is to sponsor a bill to change it. Not to resort to abuse. NDLEA, and indeed all law enforcement agencies, deserve better, especially from those who aspire to lead.

“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.

“Legalization without strong guardrails, proper tracking, prescription monitoring, laboratories, and rehabilitation centres will only expand the black market,” he said.

He cited Canada as an example, noting that even years after legalization, the country still battles a thriving illicit market.

Rabe said that with Nigeria’s current regulatory capacity, the situation would be far worse, adding that many of the “economically viable farms” Sowore referenced are controlled by armed networks linked to trafficking and violence.

“To legalize now is to hand legitimacy to those same networks. You do not defeat poverty by empowering cartels,” the NDLEA boss said.

Rabe said the government should first fund laboratories, rehabilitation centres and cooperatives to make any future cannabis industry safe and sustainable.

“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,” he said.

The commander added that while the agency would excuse the tone, it remains grateful to the millions of Nigerians who support its work.