The government of Thailand has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for a drastic drop in the number of Nigerians in the Asian country’s prisons.
Charge d’affaires/Deputy Head of Mission of the Royal Thai Embassy in Nigeria, Kriwat Pharmorabuta, gave the cheering news during a courtesy visit to the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) in Abuja.
He said before, there were about 800 prisoners from Nigeria in Thai prisons, but the number had decreased to about 200.
Pharmorabuta, who was accompanied by a Counsellor, Perapol Berananda, praised the NDLEA for mounting a vigorous fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria, a development that has impacted positively on the image of the country in the international community.
The Thai envoy said: “I have good news that I received as we speak. Before, there were around 800 prisoners from Nigeria in Thai prisons. But right now, the number has decreased greatly; it is less than 200. That means it’s now very difficult for them to get out with the drugs. So, I congratulate you and the Nigerian people. I feel pleased because I’m a diplomat in Nigeria, and I love not only my country, but also Nigeria because Nigeria is my second home. So, when I receive good news like this, I feel very happy.”
Speaking on the ongoing collaboration between the Thai embassy and NDLEA on visa clearance, Pharmorabuta said his government seeks to strengthen the partnership, since the embassy relies more on NDLEA’s visa clearance to issue Thai visa to any Nigerian travelling to Thailand from anywhere in the world.
He said: “I would like to thank Your Excellency and inform you that the government of Thailand gives more importance to the certificate of the NDLEA before issuing visas. There may be some other criteria, some other qualifications that they might need. But I think it’s not the priority; the priority document which the government of Thailand needs is the certificate from NDLEA.
“So, it means that if Nigerians have the NDLEA certificate, the correct one in their hands, 90 to 95per cent assurance is guaranteed that they can receive visas to enter into the kingdom of Thailand. I would like to thank you very much and inform you that I’m pleased that our team, my delegation and your delegation can know each other, so that we can coordinate well in subsequent works.”
In his response, Marwa expressed delight at the ongoing partnership between NDLEA and the Thai embassy on visa clearance certificates.
He said: “We have a lot to learn from Thailand, In fact, I just created a unit – the Alternative Development Unit, which focuses on encouraging our drug traffickers, especially the cannabis growers, because we have so much going on here, over 10 million consuming it.”
“We’ve seized such a huge number, over 7,000 tonnes of cannabis. We’re looking at encouraging them to stop cannabis and do other things like rice, sugarcane, cocoa. And the country that we can turn to for help is Thailand, because you have the experience in alternative development, so that the people will drop this bad habit and do something more legitimate.”
