Human rights activist and African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has criticised the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for destroying cannabis farms in Edo State, calling for the legalisation and regulation of cannabis in Nigeria.
Sowore made his position known in a post on X on Tuesday, arguing that destroying cannabis farms was an economic waste at a time when Nigerians were facing widespread poverty.
He urged the government to replace the current approach with a regulated cannabis industry that could support medicinal and industrial research, create jobs and generate revenue.
“Stop destroying cannabis farms. Stop wasting enormous economic opportunities in the name of a failed and outdated policy,” Sowore said.
The criticism followed a recent operation by the Edo State Command of the NDLEA, which destroyed two cannabis plantations with an estimated yield of 4,628.9 kilogrammes and arrested 10 suspected drug traffickers.
According to a report by The PUNCH, the NDLEA State Commander, Mitchell Ofoyeju, said one of the farms was located at Ugboku, Igbanke Forest, in Orhionmwon Local Government Area, while another was also destroyed during the operation.
The agency also recovered 12.4 kilogrammes of processed cannabis from one of the farms.
In separate operations at Oluku and Abuja Quarters in Benin City, NDLEA operatives arrested nine additional suspects and recovered various illicit substances, including cannabis, Tramadol, Diazepam and methamphetamine.
The NDLEA said the operations were part of its nationwide effort to dismantle illicit drug cultivation, trafficking and distribution networks, while investigations into the arrests are ongoing.
Sowore, however, maintained that Nigeria should explore the economic and industrial potential of cannabis through proper regulation rather than continue destroying farms.
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