By Evelyn Usman

Chairman and Chief Executive, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (retd), has described the killing of  a narcotic officer attached to the Kano state command, weekend, by armed men as sad, even as he commended other members of the team for their resilience during the gun battle.

The deceased, Tanko Ampani, an Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics, was returning from an  operation in the company of thee other members of the team when they ran into an armed gang that opened fire on them. He was shot dead during the cross fire while  his three other  colleagues  sustained injuries from bullets that riddled their operational vehicle.

Addressing officers and men of the Kano State command, during  an on-the-spot assessment of the circumstances that led to the killing, Abdallah said:  “The loss of this hard working officer is distressing and has once again brought to the fore the hazards we face everyday as narcotic personnel.

”But thank God for your resilience. You have remained undeterred but more determined. It sends the right message that the more attacks we face, the more strengthened is our resolve.”

“The loss of every single officer can be very traumatic”,  he noted adding that “it may take a while but nobody touches my personnel and goes scot-free.”

The  Chairman said there are plans to ensure that logistics required by officers to be properly equipped and protected while on assignment are provided.

He also enjoined the officers to remain steadfast, saying,  “no amount of compensation is enough for this irreplaceable loss. More than anything else, what we owe the late officer is to sustain the ideals of a drug-free Nigeria for which he lived and died,” he said.