Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has directed the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to put screening of 5,000 new recruits on hold.

The order was contained in a statement Friday night by Dayo Apata, Solicitor General of the Federation.

Apata is also the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice.

NDLEA had asked the candidates to go to the agency’s academy, Citadel Counter-Narcotics Nigeria, (CCNN) at Katton-Rikkos, Jos, Plateau State.

They are to appear for the screening and documentation exercise between January 10 and 23, 2021.

But Malami said though the exercise is long overdue and necessary for the actualization of the NDLEA mandate, “the timing is ill-advised and inappropriate.”

The AGF cited the current and alarming wave of COVID-19 pandemic across the country.

Malami directed Apata to seek advice from the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on the public health implications of the NDLEA exercise.

The minister directed the NDLEA Chairman “to stay further action on this matter pending the receipt of clarification/advice from the Presidential Task Force”.

The chairman was further requested to notify the applicants of the development accordingly.

DailyPost