The website of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, is down as of Monday morning.
Sources told The Guardian that the downtime could be linked to the high number of applicants visiting the NDLEA website for its recruitment.
Checks by The Guardian correspondent as of 12:48 pm on Monday, March 13, 2023, showed the NDLEA website indicating ‘502 Bad Gateway’.
Application for the NDLEA recruitment began on Sunday and is expected to last for two weeks. The website is, however, inaccessible at the time of filing this report.
Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA spokesman, was quoted to have said the ‘glitches’ are due to the traffic on the website.
NDLEA last Friday disclosed that the application for its recruitment process would run from Sunday, March 12 to April 8, 2023.
The agency said graduates of secondary schools, polytechnics, and universities can apply online with the application open for only two weeks.
“Applicants must be of Nigerian origin by birth and possess a national identity number, NIN, while computer literacy will be an added advantage for all cadres,” NDLEA said.
“Applicants are also required to tender all certificates at the time of recruitment as any other qualification presented subsequently will not be valid for career progression in the agency.”
NDLEA said “applicants must be medically fit and must produce a certificate of medical fitness from a government hospital.
“Candidates applying for the role of “superintendent cadre” must not be less than 20 years or more than 35 years while the age limit for “narcotic agent cadre” and “narcotic assistant cadre” is 30 years and not less than 18 years at the point of entry.”
The agency noted that “persons over 40 years applying for the role of “medical doctors” and “articulated vehicle drivers” will be considered.
“Medical and allied professionals must possess a current practicing license while lawyers must have been called to bar.
“Applicants must be drug-free and also be of good character and must not have been convicted of any criminal offense.
“Applicants must use their personal email address and phone numbers when submitting their applications online.”
Lagos Businessman Sues NDLEA Over Unlawful Home Invasion, Illegal Detention
Aro Aderinde, a forty-eight years old Lagos based businessman, has threatened to drag the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, to court for unlawfully breaking into his house in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, arresting and detaining him for 33 days.
Three months ago, the anti-narcotic agency disclosed that it had arrested Aderinde, who had been on its wanted list, over his alleged involvement in the export of 3,149 kilogrammes of cannabis Sativa concealed in coconut fibres via container number MSKU 1820587.
But Aderinde accused NDLEA of not carrying out due diligence in its investigation before releasing his identity in the public space.
Describing the agency’s action as unlawful, in a press briefing held on Saturday, January 21, 2023, in Abuja, he said he was freed and confirmed innocent of illicit drug charges levelled against him.
He, therefore, demanded an apology from the NDLEA as well as a retraction of the publication which he said was injurious to him
According to him, “ At about 4am, on October 16, 2022, about 30 armed NDLEA officers invaded my house in Ikorodu, broke and damaged three doors to gain entry. They arrested and detained me in their office for 33 days with regard to an offence I knew nothing about.
“They circulated the news to the print, electronic and social media, that I am a drug kingpin, with my picture carrying a placard and placing some packages beside me in the picture, suggesting that those packages of illicit drugs were recovered from me. They did all these without a diligent investigation.
“This action is defamatory and injurious to my reputation, my business and my family’s reputation.
“After my release, my lawyer wrote the NDLEA for retraction of all publications against me in print, electronic and social media, but the organization replied to my lawyer that it was not culpable, hence there is no need for retractions.
“I have therefore instructed my lawyer to take legal action against the NDLEA over my arrest, detention, and the defamatory publications”, he stated.
However, when the spokesman for the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi was contacted, he that Aderinde was still wanted by the agency.
According to Babafemi, “. Aderinde is wanted by the Agency because he failed to keep to the conditions of his administrative bail to report along with other suspects in the case.
“While others have been reporting, he failed to show up and already charges have been filed against him. He needs to submit himself to face his charges rather than seeking to appeal for sympathy”
Source: The Guardian
