To: His Excellency Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr.
President of the Republic of Liberia
Executive Mansion, Capitol Hill, Monrovia
Subject: A Call for Immediate Presidential Action to Safeguard National Security Against Transnational Narcotics Networks.
Your Excellency,
The Republic finds itself at a troubling crossroads. The widespread proliferation of illicit drugs is not only corroding our social fabric but also endangering Liberia’s national security, economic potential.
The Liberian people are in pain. Our communities are being gutted by the scourge of illicit drugs, our youth are wasting away in street corners, our mothers are crying in agony , and our national image is increasingly entangled with international drug cartels that exploit our borders, ports, and porous enforcement systems.
The consequences of inaction are playing out daily, in shattered homes, collapsing communities, and the anguished voices of Liberian mothers watching their children succumb to addiction.
While current data from the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) may not yet provide a consolidated breakdown of narcotics arrests by nationality, a clear pattern has emerged, underscored not only by public perception but by documented events that have made national and international headlines. These include:
- October 2022: Over $100 million worth of cocaine was seized at the Freeport of Monrovia, concealed in frozen goods. The bust, widely reported, was linked to a transnational operation involving suspected Nigerian nationals.
- April 2023: Police operations in Montserrado and Margibi counties uncovered major trafficking routes for kush, tramadol, and other synthetic substances. Several of these operations were traced to Nigerian-owned businesses in Paynesville.
- July 2024: Two Nigerian nationals were arrested at Roberts International Airport in connection with narcotics trafficking networks stretching across Ghana and Sierra Leone.
- Most recently, the arrest of a 39-year-old Liberian woman, Ms. Quita Dolo Kosso, revealed direct links to Nigerian sponsors who reportedly financed and managed the narcotics supply chain.
These are not isolated incidents. They reflect a systemic and organized infiltration of Liberia’s borders, institutions, and communities by foreign criminal networks, using our territory as both a transit and target market. near impunity.
Your Excellency, the Liberian Constitution places an unambiguous duty on the Government to protect the Republic and its people. Article 7 affirms:
“The Republic shall manage the national economy and the natural resources of Liberia in such manner as shall ensure the maximum feasible participation of Liberian citizens under conditions of equality as to advance the general welfare of the people…”
Your Excellency, the Constitution, under Article 7 of the 1986 Constitution, obligates the Government to protect national resources and advance public welfare. It reads:
“The Republic shall manage the national economy and the natural resources of Liberia in such manner as shall ensure the maximum feasible participation of Liberian citizens under conditions of equality as to advance the general welfare of the people…”
The flood of narcotics undermines this very mandate, robbing our youth of potential and opening the gates to foreign influence that damages our national welfare.
What participation do we speak of when our children are on “kush” and our future leaders are becoming addicts? What protection do we promise when our enforcement institutions are overrun, and our sovereignty is mocked in plain sight?
It is therefore difficult to reconcile this obligation with the ongoing drug epidemic, which disproportionately affects our youth, the very demographic meant to inherit and drive the national economy. As a result, Liberia’s public safety, national welfare, and sovereignty are increasingly under siege.
Policy Recommendation: A Targeted Five-Year Moratorium on Entry of Nigerian Nationals
In light of the escalating crisis, we respectfully recommend the issuance of an Executive Order establishing a temporary five-year moratorium on the entry of Nigerian nationals into Liberia, excluding the following categories:
- Accredited diplomatic and consular officials
- ECOWAS and AU representatives and envoys
- Registered humanitarian, intergovernmental, and academic delegations
We acknowledge, Mr. President, that drug trafficking is a complex phenomenon. We admit that this epidemic may involve more than just Nigerians or foreign nationals. Sadly, some of our own compatriots are entangled in this web.
However, our call to restrict this group of individuals from entering the country is aimed at dismantling the international transactional threat that appears to control or significantly influence this drug syndicate.
Mr. President, this moratorium is not proposed as an act of xenophobia, but as a calibrated, national security response to an identifiable and escalating transnational threat.
Implementing such a measure would offer Liberia’s law enforcement and public health institutions much-needed room to recalibrate their domestic response without the added strain of foreign coordination networks exploiting legal and commercial entry points.
