By Ebinum Samuel
Marwa commiserates with deceased’s family
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the sudden death of its Cross River State Commander, CN Ogbonna Maurice Uzoma.
The report of his death was brought to the attention of the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) in Maiduguri, Borno state where he was attending a retreat for Heads of Agencies, organized by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The late Commander was recently appointed and posted to take over leadership of the Cross River State Command of the Agency. He resumed on 18th August 2025 and took a temporary accommodation in a hotel in Calabar pending when he settles into a befitting accommodation.
CN Ogbonna has been up and doing at his new Command and was billed to lead his officers on some scheduled engagements at 10am on Thursday 18th September 2025 but when his officers didn’t hear from him by 9am, they went to his hotel room in company of the hotel staff while several knocks at his door and calls to his telephone line went unanswered.
Attempts by the hotel staff to open or force the door open from outside failed, after which one of the hotel attendants had to go through the ceiling aperture to enter the room and open the door from inside, where they found the Commander’s lifeless body. The Police Command in the state was promptly alerted after which the Commissioner of Police personally visited the scene while the police continue with investigation of the cause of death.
To assist police investigation, the Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency has since directed the Zonal Commander, Zone 14 Command of NDLEA, ACGN Mathew Ewah to relocate to Calabar.
While commiserating with the family of the deceased senior officer, Marwa said the Agency stands with the family in this trying moment, and prayed that God will comfort them and grant the departed eternal rest.
The spokesman for the Command , SP Tochukwu Ikenga disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu fwc MNIPS PhD commended the swift action of the operatives and reiterated the Command’s commitment to sustaining aggressive raids, intelligence-led operations, and community collaboration to rid the State of cultism, firearms proliferation, and other violent crimes.
Investigation is ongoing, and further developments will be communicated.
Meanwhile, other parts of the State remains calm as counter-terrorism and crime prevention operations continue. 
He said deformities and abnormalities test must be carried out as part of the medical health requirements, adding that a candidate for admission must be free of impediment in speech, gross malfunction of teeth or jaw preventing proper mastication of food, knock knees, bent knees, bant knees, flat feet, bent arms. Others include; deformed hands, defective eye sight or squint eyes, amputation of any kind etc.
DIG Argungu explained that Police stress stems from operational factors like trauma exposure and dangerous incidents, organizational issues such as poor management, shift work and lack of peer support and external societal pressures “which can lead to issues like burn out, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD)”.He noted the categories of stressors which he said includes operational stressors which is inherent in the nature of police work including exposure to violence, traumatic events and the potential to danger; Organisational stressors that comes with issues of insufficient staffing, poor leadership, excessive overtime, lack of proper equipment and strict or poorly enforced policies.
Others include Personal/External stressors such as factors like financial difficulties, social and family pressures, societal influences as well as internal factors related to individual Officers’ emotional well being.
DIG Argungu said the consequences of Police stress is that it can lead to various mental and physical health problems including; mental health disorder, burn out, substance misuse and suicide.
On the future of Policing and security in Nigeria, the PSC Chairman said the key challenges and threats that the country is facing now are”social media as well as digital channel which can also be used for malicious content and propaganda and “hooligans, employed by undesirable elements to recruit and mobilise followers ”
The PSC Chairman noted that at this era of 21st Century, “all security Officers will have to have training in the recognition of offences committed by computer and how electronically based technology affects businesses and everyday life.