The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (Rtd), has warned commanders, officers and men of the agency against the detention of suspects beyond the limit allowed by law.

He has also prohibited the arrest of a relation, spouse or acquaintance of a suspected drug offender, often referred to as hostage arrest.

A statement signed by the service director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the directives were contained in the reviewed operations and investigations guidelines to all commands of the agency across the country.

Marwa said, the order has become imperative in view of the current democratic dispensation in the country and the need to adhere strictly to constitutional provisions, regarding the arrest and detention of suspects.

To avoid a breach of the operations guidelines, the NDLEA Chairman said, “arrangements must be made for the filing of charges in court within 24 or 48 hours as may be applicable. Where this is not possible, a detention order must be procured from the Federal High Court, for the continuous detention of an arrested person.”

He further directed that, “investigations in all cases must be concluded not later than one week”, adding that “in all cases of raid operations, all non-culpable suspects must be separated from those culpable and released immediately.”