The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the United States has commended the recent operational successes of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), while pledging to strengthen its partnership with the Agency.
The Country Director of INL Nigeria, Mr. Derek Tolliver, gave the commendation when he led a delegation from the US Government Accountability Office to a meeting with the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), at the Agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, August 20, 2026.
Tolliver expressed gratitude to Marwa for the warm reception, saying the purpose of the meeting was to make initial introductions.
“We want to continue the great work and build upon the work of our previous INL programs here. Then I am certainly looking forward to following up with the NDLEA — me and my team in our office at the US Embassy in Abuja later — to move our program goals forward,” he said.
He also congratulated Marwa on the successes recorded under his leadership over the past months, describing the growth of the Agency as phenomenal.
Tolliver stressed that the accolades the Agency was receiving in the media reflected the impact of its work.
In his response, Marwa congratulated Tolliver on his appointment as the Country Director of INL in Nigeria and expressed gratitude for the enduring positive relationship between Nigeria and the US Government.
He thanked the INL specifically for the immense support the NDLEA had continued to receive from it and other US agencies that have supported the Agency, especially the DEA, AFRICOM, FBI, and others.
“I would like to state very clearly that whatever successes that we have had in this Agency, the INL is part of it. No question about it. You have assisted us in the past with vehicles; we need operational vehicles to move. And I recall that in 2021, when I assumed the chairmanship of this Agency, one of the earliest actions that I took was to distribute INL-provided vehicles to the commands,” the NDLEA boss recounted.
“Now, the forensic labs: we used to have just the one in Lagos for the whole country. The INL modernised it with new equipment, better-constructed buildings, and on top of that, the additional forensic laboratories that were introduced here in Abuja to cater for the North, and another one in Enugu to cater for the South-East and South-South, the INL supported us with some of the equipment.”
Marwa acknowledged that the forensic labs had been central to the NDLEA’s law enforcement efforts.
“In fact, with the seizure about two months ago and dismantlement of the meth lab in the deep forest of Ogun State, we relied on the forensic equipment to determine the precursor chemicals. And we discovered one of the precursor chemicals was in fact for the production of Fentanyl, which is bad news.
“Nobody wants to hear that word. It’s bad enough to be dealing with meth laboratories and we very much appreciate that contribution. Without these modern tools, that would have gone unnoticed because it was just a small part of the precursor chemicals. That was really very important,” he added.
He further sought more support for the NDLEA in the areas of logistics and training, among others.
