Nigeria: NDLEA strengthens partnership with Lekki Port for secure and efficient trade

Lekki Port, inaugurated in 2023 in Lagos State, is West Africa's largest deep-sea port, designed to boost Nigeria's trade competitiveness. In a sub-region where ports are regularly identified as transit points for drug trafficking to Europe and Asia, securing maritime flows has become a strategic issue. According to Vanguard, reported by AllAfrica on August 3, 2026, the chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier General (Rtd.) Mohamed Buba Marwa, visited Lekki Port as part of a familiarization tour. The stated objective: to strengthen collaboration between the agency and port managers to protect the country's maritime gateways and prevent illicit drug trafficking. For operators, increased cooperation with the NDLEA can reassure investors and trading partners about the reliability of the Nigerian supply chain, while limiting delays related to anti-drug checks. For the State, the goal is to preserve Lekki Port's reputation in the face of regional competition (Cotonou, Tema, Abidjan). The very brief source dispatch, however, details neither concrete measures nor direct statements from officials. This visit appears to be part of an institutional post-inauguration security approach, the real scope of which remains to be confirmed by subsequent, more precise announcements.