President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Shadrach Usman Haruna as the new Secretary of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA).
He replaces Mrs. Roli Bode George whose tenure as NDLEA Secretary lapsed in June 2018.
The appointment is with immediate effect.
Spoksman of the agency, Jonah Acheme said according to the NDLEA enabling Act, CAP N30 LFN 2004, the “Secretary shall be appointed by the President and shall be the head of Secretariat of the Agency, charged with the responsibility of administrative duties, keeping the books, setting agenda and implementing decisions.”
Acheme said Haruna is an accomplished national and international law practitioner.
He was until his appointment a Criminal Justice Expert and Legal Adviser in the Commonwealth Secretariat, London. In that role, he coordinated the transnational and international criminal justice work of the Commonwealth Secretariat and led experts and trainers to provide technical assistance to member-countries in diverse areas of justice needs.
These include, but not limited to law reforms, capacity building and institutional strengthening in areas such as money laundering, assets recovery, cybercrimes, virtual currencies, International cooperation, among others.
Prior to joining the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2009, Haruna worked with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria, on Human Trafficking and Migrants Smuggling, as a Crime Prevention Expert. In that role he provided training and institutional support to member States on the law reforms and on strategy to investigate and prosecute human trafficking.
Haruna is a former Federal Counsel and a Prosecutor with the Federal Ministry of Justice. During the period, he served as Assistant Legal Adviser in several Federal Ministries and a pioneer Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons.
