The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), through its Bonny Area Command, has taken its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign directly into the industrial workplace in Bonny, Rivers State.
According to the NDLEA, the campaign reached 5,725 workers of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) and its concessionaires in two sensitisation programmes conducted at the Saipem-Daewoo facility at the NLNG Train 7 project site in Bonny.
The initiative, led operationally by the Area Commander of Bonny Area Command, John David, a Deputy Commander of Narcotics (DCN), is designed to confront drug and alcohol abuse from the prevention end, particularly in a high-risk industrial environment where safety, alertness, discipline and sound judgment are critical to the protection of workers, facilities and operations.
The first batch of the work-based campaign was held on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in partnership with the management of NLNG and its contractors, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, and Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited, with the theme “Effects of Drug Abuse in the Workplace”.
A total of 3,238 workers participated, comprising 3,125 males and 113 females.
The second batch followed on Friday, September 4, 2026, with the campaign focusing on the “Dangers of Drug Abuse and Alcohol in Work Environment”, and attracted another 2,487 workers — 2,342 males and 145 females.
Combined, the two sessions brought the anti-drug message to 5,725 workers, underlining the scale of the preventive intervention and the willingness of the industrial community to engage directly with the NDLEA on substance-abuse prevention.
The programme is particularly significant because drug abuse in an industrial setting is not merely a personal or public-health concern. Impairment can have implications for workplace safety, productivity, decision-making and the protection of lives and critical infrastructure.
For an industrial hub such as Bonny, where NLNG and its network of contractors and concessionaires operate major energy facilities, sustained workplace sensitisation therefore forms an important component of broader community and security prevention efforts.
The NDLEA’s approach also reflects the agency’s broader emphasis on both drug supply reduction and demand reduction.
Commandant of the Rivers State Command, Kenneth Onyeso Offor, has publicly stressed the importance of combining enforcement with sustained prevention and public sensitisation.
He assumed office as the 27th State Commander in May 2026 and has pledged to strengthen intelligence-led enforcement alongside preventive initiatives.
That strategy is already reflected in the wider Rivers Command’s 2026 activities. Between January and June, Onyeso disclosed that the command arrested 242 suspected drug offenders, secured 61 convictions and seized 146.181 kilogrammes of illicit substances, while also counselling and rehabilitating drug users.
Against that wider operational background, the Bonny workplace campaign demonstrates how enforcement can be complemented by prevention — taking the message to people before substance abuse becomes a workplace, family or community crisis.
Speaking to Kristina Reports, the NDLEA Area Commander for Bonny, DCN John David stated that the sustained collaboration between the Agency and the managements of NLNG, Saipem and Daewoo deserves commendation.
He further stated that corporate participation is crucial to the success of drug-abuse prevention because companies do not operate in isolation from the communities around them.
“Their workforce, contractors and host communities form part of the same social environment in which the consequences of substance abuse are ultimately felt.”
“By providing access to their workforce and supporting regular sensitisation, the companies are helping to move the anti-drug campaign beyond conventional enforcement and into the everyday spaces where prevention can have practical impact.”
The campaign also comes at a time when Bonny has witnessed intensified inter-agency action against illicit drug activities.
In August, for instance, the Nigerian Navy’s Forward Operating Base Bonny handed suspected illicit substances recovered during operations to the NDLEA, while a joint operation involving the Navy, NDLEA and Okoloma Security Team led to the arrest of six suspected drug peddlers in the Amaomu area.
Earlier in February, the agency also suffered a major loss during an operation in Bonny when Chief Narcotic Agent Sadiq Bako Mujahid died from injuries sustained during an attack by suspected drug dealers and their associates.
The NDLEA confirmed that six suspects were arrested and illicit substances recovered during that operation.
These developments make the preventive component of the Bonny campaign even more important: the fight against drugs requires not only arrests and seizures, but also sustained efforts to reduce demand and discourage the normalisation of substance abuse.
A Model Worth Sustaining
The Bonny Area Command’s workplace sensitisation campaign offers a useful model of how security agencies, industry and communities can share responsibility for tackling substance abuse.
The leadership of CN Kenneth Onyeso Offor at the Rivers State Command, the operational work of DCN John David and the Bonny Area Command, and the cooperation of NLNG, Saipem and Daewoo, together demonstrate the value of combining enforcement with education, prevention and corporate responsibility.
For Bonny, the objective should be to ensure that the anti-drug message does not end with the two batches already conducted, but becomes a continuous workplace and community intervention, reaching workers, contractors, youths, families and other vulnerable groups.
The 5,725 workers already reached represent more than a statistic. Each sensitised worker becomes a potential messenger within a family, workplace and community.
And that is where the real strength of the campaign lies: preventing drug abuse before enforcement becomes necessary.
Stakeholders, who spoke to Kristina Reports, commended the NDLEA Rivers State Command, the Bonny Area Command, NLNG, Saipem and Daewoo and all stakeholders contributing to the sustained campaign for a safer, healthier and more productive Bonny.
